Recently, an IG rank IPS officer of the Bihar cadre, Sunil Naik was arrested by Andhra Pradesh Police from Patna in a case related to the custodial torture of then MP and now Deputy Speaker in the Andhra Pradesh assembly KR Krishna Raju. He was presented in a local Patna court, which denied transit remand to the AP Police over some procedural issues.
Raju, although a YSRCP MP, had turned rebel and was arrested on May 14, 2021 for speaking against then chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. He later alleged in a complaint that he was arrested from his Hyderabad residence and taken to Guntur where he was tortured inside the Crime Branch-CID office.
Naik, who was on deputation from Bihar to Andhra Pradesh, was the DIG CID that time. He is one of the accused in the custodial torture case of Raju.
If this can happen with a sitting Member of Parliament, who was brutally tortured during police custody and that too when he had just undergone heart surgery, imagine how an ordinary person would be treated. Custodial torture, unfortunately, is an accepted norm in India. There is no fool proof mechanism to prevent it. Sadly, the courts also do not take serious note of it.
What is happening with former Pakistan Prime Minister and cricket legend Imran Khan in custody is nothing unusual. Political vengeance and vendetta are the same in the entire sub-continent, whether India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. Political power is used to intimidate the opponents. This probably is yet another remnant of the ugly colonial legacy that the subcontinent has inherited.
Mostly the cases of custodial torture, particularly those borne out of political vendetta, go unpunished. In the above case, since the victim ended up being in power, having become the Deputy Speaker also, he is trying to seek justice. Otherwise, the culprits of custodial torture end up going scot-free.
It is unimaginable and shocking that the police officials would resort to such brutalities at the behest of their political bosses against their political rivals. First of all, it only betrays a medieval and tribal mentality that one goes to the extent of physical torture of his/ her political opponents, using power and authority in a most brutal manner. In fact, it is a never ending game as the cycle goes on. Today’s rulers are in opposition tomorrow. The vengeance and vendetta just go on.
Second, it is the “general immunity” the police enjoy against such brutality. Besides, those cops who resort to brutalities also get rewarded in the process. Politicians resort to vendetta using the police. If there is a strong and powerful deterrent against custodial torture, like summary dismissal besides time-bound trial, no officer will dare to resort to such barbarian acts.
Otherwise also in the normal crime-related cases the rate of conviction is poor. In the custodial torture cases, it is negligible. Even during custodial deaths, the culprits mostly get away through the atrociously long legal procedures and victims rarely get justice. Because it is virtually impossible to prove the charges in such cases when there is no evidence.
Also read: Bihar court denies transit remand to IPS officer
Although the Supreme Court of India has put the onus of disproving custodial death on the state, it is rarely applied in such cases. The application of laws and following the guideline is very poor in India. This is because the courts are also overburdened with cases and these normally drag on for years. In this atrociously lengthy process most of the victims are tired out.
Section 120 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita criminalises causing hurt to extract confession through torture. Section 35 makes it mandatory that the arrests must be documented and there must be valid reasons for detention. Even the Supreme Court guidelines require arrest memos, medical examination and legal access for the arrested person.
But the implementation of these laws and guidelines is very poor. In majority of the cases the police do not record the arrest but keep the person under detention for days together, which is illegal, before they formally record the arrest.
According to the National Human Rights Commission, thousands of custodial deaths are reported every year across India, with Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu reporting maximum such deaths.
India, according to the Global Torture Index, is counted among “high risk” countries, calling for reforms and police accountability. The Government of India did introduce the Prevention of Custodial Torture Bill in the Parliament in 2023. But it has not been enacted into a law as yet.
The most important thing to prevent custodial torture is to ensure and enforce accountability of the police. It does not require an entire police force to be rogue to resort to torture of the detainees. Just a few of these rogue elements are enough and they are always readily available everywhere.
These rogue cops do not spare even their own colleagues and bosses when it comes to pleasing their political masters. Recently, a retired IPS officer from Haryana Ram Kumar Yadav revealed how he was brutally tortured by one of the sons of then chief minister just because he had earlier arrested him during a protest. The torture, according to him, was facilitated by an SP and a DSP only!
Imagine when a sitting MP and a serving IPS officer are not immune to custodial torture what shall be the plight of a common man?
This must stop. There must be zero tolerance against custodial torture of any sort with time-bound trials and exemplary punishment, to end this barbaric medieval practice.
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