SC comes down heavily on custodial violence

Warning that custodial deaths if left unchecked would lead to anarchy and barbarism, the Supreme Court has called for stern measures to combat the menace as otherwise the people's confidence in the country's criminal justice system will be destroyed. "Unless stern measures are taken to check the malady of the very fence eating the crops, the foundations of the criminal justice delivery system would be shaken and civilisation itself would risk the consequence of heading towards total decay resulting in anarchy and authoritarianism reminiscent of barbarism," a bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and Asok Kumar Ganguly observed. The apex court passed the observation while dealing with the plea for compensation filed by Dalbir Singh, an agriculturist whose 17-year old son was allegedly killed in police custody in Noida in Uttar Pradesh. "Police excesses and the maltreatment of detainees/undertrial prisoners or suspects tarnishes the image of any civilised nation and encourages the men in 'Khaki' to consider themselves to be above the law and sometimes even to become a law unto themselves," the bench said. According to the apex court custodial deaths violated Article 21 of the Constitution which provides for "Right to Life and Liberty." Singh submitted that instead of booking those responsible under Section 302 IPC (murder), the Sector 20 Noida police officials had booked a case of 306 (suicide), claiming that the victim had committed suicide on 1st September, 2006. The apex court expressed its anguish at the increasing custodial deaths in the country which it said was perhaps one of the worst types of crime in a civilised society. "The courts must not lose sight of the fact that death in police custody is perhaps one of the worst kind of crimes in a civilised society, governed by the rule of law and poses a serious threat to an orderly civilised society". "Torture in custody flouts the basic rights of the citizens recognised by the Constitution and is an affront to human dignity," the apex court observed. According to the apex court, torture in police custody, which of late is on the increase, gets encouragement due to the unrealistic approach at times by the courts as well as the belief of the police that no harm would come to them as there would hardly be any evidence available to the prosecution to directly implicate them with it. "The courts must, therefore, deal with such cases in a realistic manner and with the sensitivity which they deserve, otherwise the common man may tend to gradually lose faith in the efficacy of the system of judiciary itself," the bench observed. However, the apex court clarified that its observation should not be considered as any form of its opinion on the merits of the present case. "We make it clear that we have not expressed any opinion on the truth or otherwise of the allegations made and which will be considered by the concerned court," the bench added. The bench also refrained from passing any order on the plea for compensation on the ground that the matter be best left to the adjudication of the trial court where the case is pending.

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