The Disha Act: Speeding Up Justice for Survivors of Sexual Violence

Justice delayed has long been one of the most painful failures of India’s legal system, particularly in cases of sexual violence against women and children, where survivors often waited years for a case to even reach trial. Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s government responded with one of the most significant legal reforms attempted by any state — the Disha Act.

What is the Disha Act?

The Disha Act, formally the Andhra Pradesh Disha Act, is state legislation that mandates the completion of trials in rape and sexual assault cases within 21 working days of the FIR being filed, with investigations required to conclude within seven working days. The Act also expands the definition of crimes against women and children, prescribes the death penalty in cases involving conclusive evidence of rape resulting in the victim’s death or vegetative state, and establishes special courts in every district dedicated exclusively to these cases.

The legislation also created the Disha App, a mobile safety application linked directly to a dedicated police response system, allowing women across the state to seek immediate emergency assistance.

The Vision Behind the Scheme

Survivors of sexual violence in India have historically faced a justice system where cases dragged on for years, evidence degraded over time, and the prolonged process itself became an additional source of trauma. Many survivors and their families, exhausted by delays, withdrew complaints or settled for inadequate outcomes simply to bring the ordeal to a close.

Jagan Mohan Reddy’s government built the Disha Act around the principle that delayed justice in these cases is itself a form of injustice — by compressing the investigation and trial timeline dramatically and establishing dedicated infrastructure, the Act aimed to ensure that survivors were not forced to endure years of uncertainty on top of the original trauma.

The Impact So Far

The Disha Act has reshaped how sexual violence cases are handled across Andhra Pradesh:

• Dedicated Disha special courts established in every district of the state.
• 21-working-day trial timeline mandated for rape and sexual assault cases, among the fastest in the country.
• Disha App deployed statewide, providing a direct emergency response link for women in distress.
• Specialised Disha Police Stations set up to handle cases with trained personnel sensitive to survivor needs.
• Significant reduction in average case resolution time compared to the pre-Disha legal process in the state.

For survivors and their families, the dramatically shortened timeline has meant facing the legal process for weeks rather than years.

More Than Just Faster Trials

The Act’s effects have extended into broader public safety infrastructure and awareness:

• Strengthened forensic and evidence-collection protocols, supporting the accelerated trial timelines with rigorous investigation standards.
• Increased public awareness of legal protections available to women and children through statewide outreach tied to the Disha App.
• Created a model that other states have studied as a reference for fast-track justice legislation.
• Reinforced a broader state commitment to women’s safety, complementing welfare schemes aimed at women’s economic empowerment.

For many families, the existence of a defined, enforceable timeline has provided a measure of confidence in the legal process that was previously absent.