Case exposes deeper problems: Experts
nNEW DELHI: The alleged custodial torture and killing of Jayaraj and Bennicks in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district exposed deeper problems with police violence that need strict judicial overview and long-term reform, former police chiefs and legal experts said on Tuesday.
Prakash Singh, a former director-general of police who filed a landmark petition for police reforms in the Supreme Court in 2006, called for an attitudinal change and reinforcing the architecture of state and district level “accountability commissions” that were mandated by the top court 14 years ago.
“The response of the local police was disappointing; they should have prosecuted these policemen without any wait. Top officers cannot think, we have to save our own,” said Singh.
Another former police chief, Vikram Singh, said the entire police station is liable to be suspended because of violation of arrest guidelines. “Everyone was a willing accomplice and the court’s order to depute revenue officials to the station is a clear loss of trust in the uniform,” he added.
Legal experts pointed out that a number of measures were recommended – by judicial and law commission reports – but none were implemented thoroughly. Murali Karnam, a professor at the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, said that in many countries, truth and accountability commissions probe violence by the state machinery. “In India...changes are needed in police training and police need to earn the confidence of people,” he said.
Shamim Modi, a professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, said in addition to the police, accountability should be sought of the judiciary too. “You need to have an environment where the guidelines issued by Supreme Court can be implemented. We need to punish illegal detention… but the lower judiciary does not seem to take this seriously.”
S Ramadoss, a professor of criminology at the University of Madras, said Tamil Nadu police have been accused of several custodial violence cases in the past – the state was second to Gujarat in the number of police custody deaths in 2018, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. “Human rights are a component of police training. What we need is deeper study and fear of punishment acting as a deterrent against custodial violence.”
What is the way forward? Raja Bagga, a programme officer at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, said constant judicial oversight on the actions of the police can bring accountability to policing. “Once the arrestee is produced in court, the magistrate has oversight of the running of the case... Magistrates have to examine whether all safeguards mandated by law have been scrupulously followed,” he said.