Citizens for Justice and Peace
Why has India still not ratified UN Convention against torture? India still does not have a law condemning torture
23-Jul-2021
What continues to remain amiss in the Indian legislations is the definition, and subsequent condemnation of torture by public officials. A right against torture is nothing but an affirmation of Right to Life under Article 21. However, enforcing fundamental rights is a much more tedious task than invoking the provisions of the specific law, which…
Has torture in police custody become routine? From 2005 to 2018, not a single police person has been convicted
29-Jun-2021
Allegedly thrashed by the cops at Virajpet Police Station, 50-year-old mentally challenged Roy D’ Souza succumbed to his injuries on June 12 in Karnataka. According to some media sources, Roy, who was also epileptic, was found roaming the streets with a knife in his hand and attacked a constable before being taken into custody. Roy was beaten…
SCI turns the spotlight on custodial torture A discussion with senior counsels and human rights advocates
11-Dec-2020
In wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling, of CCTV cameras to be installed in investigating agencies and police stations, Teesta Setalvad moderates this discussion with Senior Counsels and human rights advocates Nitya Ramakrishnan and Mihir Desai and veteran Rights Advocate Henri Tiphagne. Related: TN custodial death report establishes complicity of police, hospital staff and…
Ramifications of SC judgment on CCTVs in Police Stations Teesta Setalvad in Facebook Live conversation with Nitya Ramakrishnan, Mihir Desai & Henri Tiphagne
04-Dec-2020
A Facebook Live discussion was organised by Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) with Senior Counsels and human rights advocates Nitya Ramakrishnan and Mihir Desai and veteran Rights Advocate Henri Tiphagne on December 3, 2020. It was moderated by CJP secretary Teesta Setalvad. The exclusive discussion started with welcoming the recent judgment of Paramvir Singh Saini…
SC order on CCTVs in Police Stations: Firm stand against Custodial Torture Detailed directions on position of CCTVs, storage of recorded data, accessibility to the victim
03-Dec-2020
The Supreme Court has passed a detailed and specific order directing states and the centre to take concrete steps towards ensuring that every police station in the country and all investigating agencies have CCTV cameras in their premises. The bench comprising Justices RF Nariman, KM Joseph and Aniruddha Bose have ordered setting up of state…
TN custodial death report establishes complicity of police, hospital staff and jail authorities Well executed inquiry without losing evidentiary value
02-Dec-2020
The horrifying incident of the custodial death of a father and son due to torture in custody, is still fresh in people’s minds. In June, Jeyaraj (60) and Benicks (31) two shop owners in Sathankulam were taken in custody and were brutally assaulted by police personnel which eventually led to their death within 4 days.…
The last leg of the DK Basu judgement: An Analysis A look at the 2015 judgment; what it did for the initial parametres set by the 1996 judgment
25-Aug-2020
Case title: D.K.Basu vs. State of West Bengal Case No.: Crl.M.P. No.15492 of 2014 Date of judgement: July 24, 2015 Coram: Justices TS Thakur and R Bhanumati This judgment was the last of the orders under the continuing mandamus of the Supreme Court in the monumental DK Basu case. The case has gone down…
Revisiting DK Basu: The most relevant judgment of all time A landmark judgment that held that torture revealed the darker side of human civilization
17-Aug-2020
Case title: D.K.Basu vs. State of West Bengal Case No.: Writ Petition (Crl) No. 592 of 1987 Date of judgement: December 18, 1996 Coram: Justices Kuldip Singh and A.S. Anand ‘Torture’ of a human being by another human being is essentially an instrument to impose the will of the ’strong’ over the ‘weak’ by suffering…
NCRB Reports Show Statistics on How Many Breathe Their Last in Custody A deep dive into the Board’s 2017 reports on crimes in India and prison statistics.
04-Nov-2019
On October 20, the NCRB simultaneously released two of its annual reports—“Prison Statistics India 2017” and “Crime in India 2017”. The reports contain statistics collated by the Board as to the number and types of deaths occurring in judicial and police custody respectively. Here, we look into the findings from these documents. Deaths in judicial…
Investigate illegal detention of children in J&K: SC Apex court directs Juvenile Justice Committee of J & K HC to probe the matter
20-Sep-2019
The Supreme Court has directed the Juvenile Justice Committee of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to look into the allegations of illegal detention of children in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of abrogation of Article 370, and submit a report before it within a week. There have been certain reports specific to the…