Custodial Deaths in India: Status, Concerns, and Regulations

Context

Recently, the Supreme Court has said there is a need to take a “stricter view” while dealing with bail pleas of police personnel accused in custodial death cases. 

Custodial Deaths in India: Recent Cases and State Trends

• Recently, UP DGP reiterated guidelines to prevent custodial deaths.
• Also, in Tamil Nadu, a police inspector was suspended over ‘custodial death’.
• In February this year, a Sub-Inspector from Surat had been booked for attempted murder subjected to custodial torture.
• State has highest custodial death in India: From 2017-22, the highest number of custodial deaths have been reported in Gujarat followed by Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Bihar.

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Custody & Its Types

The Custody means someone assigned for the protection of care or guardianship of something.

• However, for every arrest is custody but not every custody will be held for arrest. 
• Types of Custody: Following are the two type of custody the Indian judicial system has for the prisoners:
  • Police Custody: In this custody, a police officer arrests the accused by following the receipt of information or complaint or report by police about crime and prevents him/her from committing further offenses and brings him to the police station. 
    • Here, the accused is kept in the lock-up.
    • Specific Timeframe: The police officer has the time of 24 hours to interrogate the suspect and if finds that the suspect is guilty then the duty of the police is to file a charge-sheet after taking him to the Magistrate. 
  • Judicial Custody: In this custody, an accused is kept in jail by the order of the concerned magistrate. When an accused is presented before a magistrate, he/she can either be sent to jail or kept under police custody by the magistrate.
    • When the accused is in judicial custody the police have no right of interrogation and police find that interrogation is necessary as per the facts or instances of the case.

About Custodial Death

• Definition: It is defined as a death that takes place while a person is in custody, and is either directly or indirectly related to or significantly attributable to activities that were carried out while the person was in custody. 
• Coverage: It covers fatalities that take place in a jail, on a police or even other vehicle, at a private or medical facility, or in a public space.
• Occurrence: It can happen due to negligence by the concerned authorities in any form of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment by the police officers.
  • Custodial deaths can happen naturally, without any participation from the police, for example, when a criminal defendant or accused person passes away from sickness. 
• Instruction by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC): In 1993, NHRC had issued a general circular requiring all the District Magistrates and the Superintendents of Police to report to the Commission, incidents relating to custodial deaths within 24 hours of their occurrence.

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Concerns Associated with Custodial Deaths

• Violation of Fundamental Laws: Custodial death due to torture and violence by police is against the fundamental structure and values of the Indian Constitution.
  • It is a violation of articles 20, 21 and 22 of the Indian Constitution.
• Against Moral Values: Sometimes, the police authority abuses the convicted even before the formal arrest, claiming injuries occurred prior to custody. 
  • Recently, the Punjab and Haryana high court has held that custodial deaths represent a reprehensible abuse of power given the vulnerability of detainees and the unequal power dynamics.
• Severe Offenses Committed by Police Misusing the Custody: Sometimes, police misused the Custody and causing torture to the victims. 
  • Rape: Rape is one of the prevalent forms of custodial torture. 
    • The Mathura Rape Case: An incident of custodial rape in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra in 1972, wherein a tribal girl named Mathura was allegedly raped by two policemen in the Police Station.
  • Harassment: It is prevalent among the police and leads to many sufferings to the victims.
    • Nilabati Behera vs. the State of Orissa: In this case, the victim had died due to the harassment and beatings by the police. 
  • Illegal Detention: Depriving an individual of their personal liberty without following the process of law amounts to illegal detention. It includes unlawful imprisonment, continuous restraint of a person at a place or restraining a person from reaching a place. It is a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution and leads to immense pain and suffering.
    • Rudal Shah vs. the State of Bihar: In this case, the accused was kept in jail for 14 years, after his acquittal by the Sessions Court.
  • Fake Encounters: It is a type of custodial death, and has recently been used in the headlines. 
    • Pradeep Sharma, a former Mumbai Police ‘encounter specialist,’ has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Bombay High Court for his involvement in the fake encounter in 2006. 
      • This landmark judgment marks the first conviction of police officers in a fake encounter case in India.

Way Forward To Prevent Custodial Deaths in India

• Adopt Strict Approach: To prevent custodial deaths, implementation of guidelines and directives recommended in Prakash singh case is required.
  • Directives laid down in Prakash Singh vs. Union of India, 2006:
    • Establishment of a Police Establishment Board
    • Formation of the National Security Commission
    • Formation of a State Security Commission
    • Formation of a Police Complaint Authority
    • Separation of the investigation and law and order functions of the police
    • Merit-based system for the appointment of the Director-General of the Police
    • Two-year minimum tenure for SP and station house officers
    • Compensation to the victim
• Time for Reforms in Police Attitude: There is a need to enhance police training programs to emphasise respect for human rights and dignity.
  • There is an urgent need to change the rude police attitude and promote a culture of accountability, professionalism, and empathy within law enforcement agencies.
• More Monitoring & Enquiry: With rising high cases of custodial deaths in India, time has come to encourage civil society organisations to actively advocate for victims of custodial torture.
  • The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)  should be allowed to inquire into any matter even after one year from the date of the alleged human rights violation and also the jurisdiction should be expanded on human rights violations by armed forces with appropriate measures.
• Assistance to Victim & its Family: To maintain the soul of justice, there is a need to provide more legal support to victims and their families. 

• • In Nilabati Behera vs. the State of Orissa, the court held that when the state violates the constitutional right to life of a citizen, it has an obligation to provide compensation. 
• Learn from Other Countries’ Best Practices: The Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013 is an Act passed by the Jatiya Sangsad in 2013 to prohibit torture in custody in Bangladesh.
  • The Prevention of Torture Bill, 2017 was one of the primary legislation that was enacted as law of parliament in relation to custodial torture in the country. Now, time has come to take strict actions regarding the bill.
• Time for Collaboration: Collaborating with international human rights bodies and organisations is required to seek redress and justice. The Government of India signed the UN Torture Convention in October 1997 but is yet to ratify it.

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