Source: HT
Subject: Governance
Context: A Tamil Nadu trial court awarded the death penalty to nine policemen for the brutal 2020 custodial murder of traders P. Jayaraj and his son J. Benicks in Sattankulam.
About Custodial Death in India:
What it is?
- Custodial death refers to the death of a person while under the custody of the police or judicial authorities. It often results from custodial torture, which includes physical assault, psychological pressure, or medical negligence.
- While the Indian Constitution guarantees the Right to Life (Article 21), custodial violence represents a naked violation of human dignity where the protector turns into the predator.
Data and Statistics:
- Steady Incidence: India recorded 170 custodial deaths in the financial year 2025-26, showing that despite judicial scrutiny, the numbers remain high.
- Five-Year Trend: Between 2021 and 2026, annual figures have consistently ranged between 140 and 176 deaths, indicating a systemic rather than incidental issue.
- Regional Hotspots: In the 2025-26 period, Bihar recorded the highest number of deaths in police custody (19), followed by Rajasthan (18).
- Lack of Accountability: According to NHRC data submitted to Parliament in 2026, only one case of disciplinary action was reported in connection with custodial deaths over the past five years.
Factors Leading to Custodial Death:
- Colonial Policing Legacy: The Indian Police Act of 1861 was designed for a repressive force to control subjects, not a democratic force to protect citizens.
- Reliance on Forced Confessions: Investigating officers often use third-degree methods to bypass lengthy scientific investigations and extract quick confessions.
- Absence of Standalone Law: India has not ratified the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), and lacks a specific domestic law criminalizing torture as a distinct offense.
- Poor Training: Police personnel often lack training in scientific interrogation techniques (like the PEACE model) and human rights sensitization.
- Culture of Impunity: There is a blue wall of silence where fellow officers protect the accused, and legal requirements for government sanction to prosecute officials act as a shield.
Key Judgments on Custodial Death:
- D.K. Basu vs. State of West Bengal (1997): The Supreme Court laid down 11 mandatory guidelines for arrest and detention, including the right to inform relatives and mandatory medical exams.
- Prakash Singh vs. Union of India (2006): Mandated the setting up of Police Complaints Authorities (PCA) at the state and district levels to investigate serious misconduct.
- Paramvir Singh Saini vs. Baljit Singh (2020): Ordered the mandatory installation of CCTV cameras with audio recording in every nook and corner of all police stations and central investigative agencies.
- Sattankulam Verdict (2026): Classified custodial torture by nine policemen as a rarest of rare crime, awarding the death penalty to serve as a deterrent against state-sponsored vengeance.
Challenges Associated:
- Technological Compliance: Despite SC orders, many police stations report non-functional CCTVs during incidents of alleged torture.
- Delayed Justice: Inquiries into custodial deaths are often delayed for years, leading to the deterioration of evidence and witness intimidation.
- Structural Barriers: Section 197 of the CrPC (and its equivalent in the BNSS) requires government permission to prosecute public servants, which is often denied.
- Targeting the Vulnerable: Statistics show that a disproportionate number of victims belong to Dalit, Adivasi, and minority communities.
- Prison Overcrowding: Deaths in judicial custody are exacerbated by a 77% undertrial population, leading to stress, disease, and violence within jails.
Way Ahead:
- Ratify UNCAT: India must formally ratify the UN Convention Against Torture and enact a Standalone Anti-Torture Law as recommended by the Law Commission.
- Mandatory Forensic Science: Investigations must shift from interrogation-based to evidence-based, making forensic tools mandatory for every criminal probe.
- Independent Investigations: Cases of custodial death should be automatically transferred to an independent agency like the CBI or a judicial magistrate to ensure impartiality.
- Strict Accountability for CCTVs: Station House Officers (SHOs) should be held personally liable if cameras are found non-functional during a custodial incident.
- Police Sensitization: Integrating human rights and psychological stress management into the core curriculum of police training academies.
Conclusion:
The Sattankulam verdict is a monumental step toward ending the culture of impunity, reminding the executive that the fence cannot eat the crop. However, lasting change requires moving beyond individual punishments toward structural reforms that replace colonial-era brutality with a rights-based policing model. True justice lies not just in the sentencing of the guilty, but in ensuring that no citizen ever fears a police station more than a criminal.
