Extra judicial killings in India

IN NEWS:

• The murder of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother by assailants while in police custody, and the ‘encounter’ deaths of Atiq’s son have generated a lot of heat and debate in India on custodial deaths and extra-judicial killings.

EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS:

• An extrajudicial killing is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding.
• No law in India exclusively defines encounter killings but it is still classified under “Cases Registered against State Police Personnel for Human Right Violation” in the National Crime Records Bureau.

STATISTICS:

• The number of deaths in police custody witnessed a nearly 60% increase over the last three years and 75% over the last two years across the country, data provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the Rajya Sabha has revealed.
• Union home ministry data says between January 1, 2017, and January 31, 2022, there were a total of 655 police encounters.
• Chhattisgarh had the highest number (191), followed by Uttar Pradesh (117), Assam (50), Jharkhand (49), Odisha (36), Jammu and Kashmir (35) and Maharashtra (26).

WHY THEY HAPPEN?

• ‘Instant justice’:
  • More than 40% of cases are decided after three years in India, while in many other countries less than 1% of cases are decided after three years. Owing to such delays and low conviction rates, custodial tortures/encounter killings are adopted as a means of ensuring ‘quick justice’.
• Tacit social and political approval:
  • Public often have unrealistic expectations on crime control and delivery of justice. Hence, they condone practices like custodial tortures and fake encounters.
  • For instance, such Killings are often glorified by the public and media, portraying the police officers involved as heroes who are cleaning up society.
• Weak police system:
  • Police forces lack the numbers, resources, skills or technologies needed to bring about prosecutions, but the public demands order. Here, encounter-killing offers an easy way out.
• Challenges in evidence collection:
  • Many custodial deaths are categorised as suicides. However, it is challenging to establish whether they committed suicide or whether they were forced.
  • Also, many police stations are not equipped with CCTV cameras and there is limited usage of videography during investigations. This makes evidence collection in alleged custodial tortures difficult.
• Absence of independent investigation:
  • The amended section 176 (1A) of the CrPC mandates judicial inquiry into every case of death, rape and disappearance in the custody. However:
    • Most states have flouted the mandatory judicial inquiry into custodial deaths.
    • Probes are generally taken by the police itself, but the fraternity within force undermines the independence of the investigation.
• Low conviction rates:
  • As per the National Human Rights Commission data, disciplinary action was initiated in one case during the last five financial years. Hence, the law has failed to set a strong precedent.
• Under-reporting:
  • There is no national database of the mandatory inquiry by magistrates into all cases of use of lethal force by police.
  • There exist wide data gaps in reporting of encounter killings by the National Human Rights Commission and the National Crime Records Bureau.
  • For instance, while the Crime in India report by the bureau found three cases of encounter killings registered in 2020, the commission’s data showed 156, 112 and 82 killings in 2018-’19, 2019-’20 to 2020-’21, respectively.
• Failure to follow NHRC guidelines:
  • In 1997, the National Human Rights Commission had issued certain guidelines to prevent deaths while in custody. However, most of the states are not following the recommendations in the true spirit.  
• Punitive Violence:
  • Some police officials believe that using violence and torture is the only way to control crime and create a sense of fear among potential criminals.

THREATS FROM EXTRA JUDICIAL KILLING:

• Violates fundamental rights:
  • Encounter or extrajudicial killings violate the fundamental rights of offenders given in the Constitution of India, which mandates that every person has a right to life and liberty and equality before law.
• Undermines judicial system:
  • Extrajudicial violence does away with separation of powers in a democracy and is a threat to the rule of law. It would in turn result in the public losing faith in the judicial system.
• Creates a Slippery slope:
  • Encouraging extra judicial killing creates an atmosphere of impunity for police forces which leads to the murder of innocent civilians, as seen in the case of Jayaraj and Fenix who were sodomised and fatally beaten in police custody for violating the norms of lockdown rules in Thoothukudi.

WAY FORWARD:

• Implement judicial guidelines:
  • In the People's Union for Civil Liberties v State of Maharashtra 2014, the Supreme Court has proposed 16 Guidelines to independently investigate ‘encounter’ killings. They must be strictly observed in all cases police encounters.
• Strong action against police brutality:
  • Extra judicial executions are an anathema to the Rule of Law. Hence, fair investigations and stringent legal actions must be taken against all cases of extra judicial killings in the country.
• Judicial reforms:
  • Proactive measures must be taken to reduce the vacancies in judicial posts, improve accessibility and reduce the delays in justice.
• Infusion of technology:
  • Technology must be leveraged wherever possible to improve the reporting of cases, quality of investigation and conviction for offences.
• Implement important Supreme Court directives in Prakash Singh case:
  • Constitute a State Security Commission in every state that will lay down policy for police functioning, evaluate police performance etc.
  • Constitute Police Complaints Authorities at the state and district levels to inquire into allegations of serious misconduct and abuse of power by police personnel.
  • Separate the investigating police from the law and order police to ensure speedier investigation, better expertise and improved rapport with the people.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Q. Slippery slope of extrajudicial killings leads to infinite darkness and not justice. Discuss. (10 marks, GS 4)

Q. Custodial deaths and encounter killings are an anathema to the rule of law. Analyse the reasons behind them and suggest measures to tackle the issue?