‘No external monitoring mechanism in India to take erring police officers to task’

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In America, wrongful procedure leads to mistrial but, here, when the police do something illegal, it does not vitiate the outcome of the trial; when an illegality takes place, all that you may get is bail or compensation, says retired HC judge

SONIKKA LOGANATHAN

INTERVIEW JUSTICE

K. CHANDRU

Following a case of custodial violence in Ambasamudram in Tamil Nadu, the issue of police excesses are back at the forefront. There were 478 custodial deaths reported in Tamil Nadu between 2016-17 and 2021-22 and no arrests, chargesheets or convictions in the period. Retired Madras High Court judge Justice K. Chandru says that there needs to be some external monitoring, rather than only government mechanisms, to hold the police accountable.

Is there any loophole in Article 21 (Right to Life) and 22 (Rights of Accused) that allows police to perpetrate violence?

Following the 1986 case of D.K. Basu vs West Bengal, the Supreme Court issued 11 guidelines to accompany Article 22.1. According to them, a Magistrate should ask the accused whether he has a medical problem, caused by the police. They generally don’t ask and write “no complaints”, meaning the accused never said anything. At the time, the accused is sufficiently warned [by the police].

Data show that in India there were no convictions in custodial death cases in recent years. Why is no one held accountable?

In America, wrongful procedure leads to mistrial. But, in India, when the police do something illegal, it does not vitiate the outcome of the trial. Even if they illegally enter your house and find contraband, they can chargesheet it. So when an illegality takes place, all that you may get is bail or compensation. Beyond that, we do not have a mechanism by which these officers can be taken to task. In the U.S., you can sue the police for civil damage, we can’t do that here. There is no external check, it is through the mechanisms of the government you are trying to supervise them.

Data shows that Schedule Caste (SC) detainees in Tamil Nadu experience custodial violence at disproportionately higher rates. Why is this so?

When it comes to SCs and adivasis, the custodial torture and killings are much higher. In case of “Denotified Tribes” too it’s much higher as nobody in the village is going to support them. Even in the chargesheet, the police write “KR” before their name for Koravar, and “IR” for Irular. The High Court said it should not be used, but none agreed. The only way to stop oppression is to accept them as part of the village. Unless there is social mobility and organisation, this will not stop.

Do you think that having CCTVs in jails will help solve this problem?

To avoid detection, police now have places elsewhere where the accused will be taken and beaten. They also come up with new theories to get over the law. We don’t have an institutional form of human rights organisation which can continuously fight. Secondly, there must be civilian supervision in police stations and if something happens they can visit. So monitoring should be legalised by civil society in some form.

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