On January 27, the Supreme Court has called for responses from all states and Union Territories on its judgement ordering that CCTV cameras...
On January 27, the Supreme Court has called for responses from all states and Union Territories on its judgement ordering that CCTV cameras be installed in police stations to ensure accountability for torture and custodial violence. These directions, intended to further the fundamental right to life under Article 21, were passed on December 2 in Paramvir Saini v Baljit Singh. They also extended to the offices of investigative agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation, the National Investigation Agency and the Enforcement Directorate.
The custodial deaths of Jeyraj and Bennicks in Tamil Nadu last year underscored the need for urgent implementation of oversight mechanisms in cases of custodial violence. The Supreme Court has an opportunity to supplement these directives with clear standards on police accountability, rights of victims and transparency in judicial proceedings.
The intervention by the People’s Union for Democratic Rights in Delhi thanas and prisons over the years have found that victims are unable to access legal remedies for violations due to the complicity between investigative agencies. These ties of “brotherhood and fellow feeling”, as per the Law Commission of India, serve to shield perpetrators from accountability, and may best be demonstrated by the course of proceedings in the Paramvir Saini case itself.
Torture case
Inspector Paramvir Saini is one of six police...
