THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 02 APRIL 2019 (Professionalism in custodial practices might have allowed Taslim and Gufran to face trial as per due process (Indian Express)

Professionalism in custodial practices might have allowed Taslim and Gufran to face trial as per due process (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 1:
Prelims level:
Mains level:

Context

•  Two young men, Taslim Ansari, 32, and Gufran Alam, 30, died in police custody in Dumra, Sitamarhi district of Bihar on March 7.
•  At least 90 people die in police custody, annually, the largest number of them being people arrested and yet to be produced before a magistrate.

Background

•  In 2016, government data recorded 92 deaths in police custody, of which 60 occurred before reaching the court.
•  This makes a travesty of sections 55A and 57 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) which place the duties of care of the accused, and production before a magistrate within 24 hours, on the person having custody.
•  We do not have an anti-torture legislation and are yet to criminalise custodial violence, while action against culpable officials remains illusory.
•  In its landmark judgment in the DK Basu case, the Supreme Court, in 2015, asked for (CCTV) cameras to be installed in police stations including interrogation rooms, and surprise inspections by Non-Official Visitors (NOVs), as preventive measures against custodial torture.
•  Of course, no state has appointed the NOVs yet, while the camera installation and tracking have largely been a trajectory of reluctance, tamper and delay.
•  The CCTVs alone are not enough deterrence.
•  The right to a lawyer in custody, so crucial for life and liberty to be enshrined as a fundamental right, is one of the weakest links in the chain of criminal justice.

Section 41CrPC

•  Section 41 CrPC was amended in 2009 to include safeguards under 41A, 41B, 41C and 41D, so that arrests and detentions for interrogation have reasonable grounds and documented procedures, arrests are made transparent to family, friends and public, and there is protection through legal representation.
•  Specifically, section 41D CrPC provides, “When any person is arrested and interrogated by the police, he shall be entitled to meet an advocate of his choice during interrogation, though not throughout interrogation.”
•  How can a lawyer or family member appear if the place of detention is kept undisclosed a blatant violation of section 50A of the CrPC?

Conclusion

•  Undeniably, the first onus is on the police to fix the “man-holes” in their quarters.
•  Cameras and lawyers in custodial places are statutory and enforceable rights.
•  But torture cannot be effectively prevented till the senior police wisely anticipate, as some indeed do.
•  The changes that would most definitely come, and proactively lead in filling these gaps as a call of professional integrity and regain public trust in law enforcement.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) India has completed its nuclear triad by inducting the strategic nuclear submarine INS Arihant into service. Consider the following statements accordingly-

1. With this, India has become the third country to have a nuclear triad after U. S and Russia
2. INS Arihant is India’s first indigenously built nuclear submarine

Choose the appropriate code
a) 1 Only
b) 2 Only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: B

Mains Questions:
Q.1) Discuss the details about Sec 41 or CrPC Act? Do you think right of accused person is important?