Judicial intervention in custodial crime a case study of Punjab

Abstract

The study documents the Constitutional guarantees, penal laws, evidentiary and procedural safeguards and legislative measures both existing and potential (in the backdrop of international human rights law) which are either invoked by the Courts or are likely to serve as a threshold for judicial intervention to combat custodial crime and torture in India. It discusses the safeguards and trends as interpreted by courts and quasi -judicial bodies such as NHRC and PSHRC to address the menace of custodial crime in post 2008 period. Judiciary however, has played a significant role in laying down leading principles for protection of human rights against custodial crime. In this regard, the cases collated from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh have been discussed in this study to bring out comprehensive analysis on custodial crime in police and judicial custody. The analysed cases pertain to the period from the year 2008 onwards. From the analysis of the cases related to custodial torture, it came out that victim and their relatives approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh. On the basis of the cases examined in the study, judicial intervention is more towards grant of compensation to the victims rather than conviction of the accused police officials committing custodial crimes. It is strongly recommended that the Indian Government should forthwith ratify the UNCAT, 1984 and OPCAT, 2002 and facilitate enacting of a standalone legislation on the Prevention of Torture and ensure passage of The Prevention of Torture Bill (POB). newline