Why police torture not a criminal offence yet, SC asks Centre

R Sedhuraman

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, September 26

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre seeking its response to former Union Law Minister Ashwini Kumar’s PIL plea for making custodial torture by the police and other law enforcement agencies a criminal offence in line with the United Nations’ 1987 Convention against Torture to which India was a signatory.

Arguing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur, the senior advocate-petitioner acknowledged that he failed to put in place such a law while being a minister, but now as a citizen he wanted to prevent the brutal treatment being meted out to those in police custody for various reasons.

He said he had come to the judiciary as the Centre maintained that there was no need for a separate law. The government was also non-committal on a time frame for an alternative solution involving amendment to Sections 330 and 331 of the IPC despite the fact that India signed the UN convention far back in 1997.

Earlier, realising that India did not have a law to deal with custodial violence, the Centre had formulated “the Prevention of Torture Bill 2010”, which the Lok Sabha passed on May 6, 2010. Subsequently, the Rajya Sabha’s select committee, headed by the petitioner, recommended in December 2010 that the legislation be enacted with some additions and modifications. But the Bill lapsed following the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.

The SC has also sought response of the National Human Rights Commission as the petitioner pleaded that the commission was taking cognisance of only the incidents of torture that resulted in custodial death.