---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Pvchr
Date: Tue, Aug 26, 2014 at 10:52 AM
Subject: regarding direction for the implementation of Landmark decision given by Hon'ble Bombay High Court in all police stations of India.
To: covdnhrc@nic.in, jrlawnhrc@hub.nic.in
Cc: Lenin Raghuvanshi
To,
The Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
New Delhi
Sub: regarding direction for the implementation of Landmark decision given by Hon'ble Bombay High Court in all police stations of India.
Dear Sir,
I want to bring in your kind attention towards the landmark decision of Hon'ble High Court of Bombay for installation of CC TV in all police station of Maharastra http://timesofindia.
HC orders CCTV cams at police stations
Shibu Thomas | Aug 13, 2014, 11.43PM IST
MUMBAI: Observing that the rising number of custodial deaths in Maharashtra was "alarming", the Bombay high court has directed the state government to install CCTV cameras at police stations and ensure that FIRs are registered if accused die in custody. The cameras are to be installed in such a way that areas like corridors and lock-ups at a police station are covered 24x7.
"The number of custodial deaths in Maharashtra is alarming. Unfortunately, we do not know why the higher echelons of the police force are oblivious to the problem of custodial torture and death. May be they want to protect their officers," said a division bench of Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode on Wednesday. As per the bench, the "responsibility of the safety, health and wellbeing of a person who is arrested will be that of the officer who arrested him, the investigation officer and the station-in-charge".
The court said CCTV data would be preserved for a year and the senior inspector of a police station would be responsible for ensuring that the cameras are operational. In Mumbai alone, there are 93 police stations. Legal experts believe that the installation of CCTV cameras will ensure that the police are more careful about illegally detaining an accused or torturing him to force a confession. The direction to register an FIR assumes significance as in most cases the state orders a magisterial inquiry, but no case is registered unless the court intervenes.
Advocate Yug Chaudhry, who was appointed as amicus curiae (friend of the court), pointed to data by the National Crime Records Bureau, which revealed that between 1999 and 2013, there were 333 custodial deaths in Maharashtra—over 23% of all custodial deaths in India occurred in the state. There were 45 FIRs; only 19 charge-sheets were filed and nobody was convicted. Chaudhry said that despite the Supreme Court's orders about norms to be followed while arresting a person, the police were in violation.
The high court's guidelines include the taking of photographs if an accused is injured in custody and taking him to the nearest hospital, monitoring of investigations by a magistrate and making efforts to arrest the officers involved.
The court has directed the state to file a compliance report within four weeks. It was hearing petitions filed by families of persons who had died in custody, including the April 2014 deaths of Agnello Valdaris in the Wadala railway police station and Akash Kharade in the Samata Nagar police lock-up.
Therefore sir, it is a kind request to direct for implementation of this landmark decision not only in Maharastra but in all police station of India to prevent the custodial death and torture in police station with implementation of Hon' ble D.K Basu guideline.
Thanking you
Sincerely yours
Lenin Raghuvanshi
Secretary General
PVCHR
From: Pvchr
Date: Tue, Aug 26, 2014 at 10:52 AM
Subject: regarding direction for the implementation of Landmark decision given by Hon'ble Bombay High Court in all police stations of India.
To: covdnhrc@nic.in, jrlawnhrc@hub.nic.in
Cc: Lenin Raghuvanshi
To,
The Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
New Delhi
Sub: regarding direction for the implementation of Landmark decision given by Hon'ble Bombay High Court in all police stations of India.
Dear Sir,
I want to bring in your kind attention towards the landmark decision of Hon'ble High Court of Bombay for installation of CC TV in all police station of Maharastra http://timesofindia.
HC orders CCTV cams at police stations
Shibu Thomas | Aug 13, 2014, 11.43PM IST
MUMBAI: Observing that the rising number of custodial deaths in Maharashtra was "alarming", the Bombay high court has directed the state government to install CCTV cameras at police stations and ensure that FIRs are registered if accused die in custody. The cameras are to be installed in such a way that areas like corridors and lock-ups at a police station are covered 24x7.
"The number of custodial deaths in Maharashtra is alarming. Unfortunately, we do not know why the higher echelons of the police force are oblivious to the problem of custodial torture and death. May be they want to protect their officers," said a division bench of Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode on Wednesday. As per the bench, the "responsibility of the safety, health and wellbeing of a person who is arrested will be that of the officer who arrested him, the investigation officer and the station-in-charge".
The court said CCTV data would be preserved for a year and the senior inspector of a police station would be responsible for ensuring that the cameras are operational. In Mumbai alone, there are 93 police stations. Legal experts believe that the installation of CCTV cameras will ensure that the police are more careful about illegally detaining an accused or torturing him to force a confession. The direction to register an FIR assumes significance as in most cases the state orders a magisterial inquiry, but no case is registered unless the court intervenes.
Advocate Yug Chaudhry, who was appointed as amicus curiae (friend of the court), pointed to data by the National Crime Records Bureau, which revealed that between 1999 and 2013, there were 333 custodial deaths in Maharashtra—over 23% of all custodial deaths in India occurred in the state. There were 45 FIRs; only 19 charge-sheets were filed and nobody was convicted. Chaudhry said that despite the Supreme Court's orders about norms to be followed while arresting a person, the police were in violation.
The high court's guidelines include the taking of photographs if an accused is injured in custody and taking him to the nearest hospital, monitoring of investigations by a magistrate and making efforts to arrest the officers involved.
The court has directed the state to file a compliance report within four weeks. It was hearing petitions filed by families of persons who had died in custody, including the April 2014 deaths of Agnello Valdaris in the Wadala railway police station and Akash Kharade in the Samata Nagar police lock-up.
Therefore sir, it is a kind request to direct for implementation of this landmark decision not only in Maharastra but in all police station of India to prevent the custodial death and torture in police station with implementation of Hon' ble D.K Basu guideline.
Thanking you
Sincerely yours
Lenin Raghuvanshi
Secretary General
PVCHR
