Custodial Torture In Criminal Justice

“Torture is wound in the soul so painful that sometimes you can almost touch it, but it is also so intangible that there is no way to heal it. Torture is anguish squeezing in your chest, cold as ice and heavy as a stone, paralyzing as sleep and dark as the abyss. Torture is despair and fear and rage and hate. It is a desire to kill and destroy including yourself”- Adriana P. Bartow

Custodial torture ranging from assault of various types to death by the police for extortion of confessions and imputation of evidence are not uncommon. Such a method of investigation and detection of a crime, in the backdrop of expanding idea of ‘humane’ administration of criminal justice, not only disregards human rights of an individual and thereby undermines

Custodial violence, including torture and death in the lock-ups, strikes heavy blow at the rule of law which demands that the powers of executive should not only be derived from law but also that they should be limited by law. The law of arrest expects both individual rights and the states’ collective responsibility towards the society. In most scenarios it becomes a challenge to strike a perfect balance between both. Transparency of action and accountability are two possible safeguards to prevent any abuse of power to arrest a citizen. Custodial violence broadly includes custodial deaths, torture and as per the new trend in the crime pattern even custodial rapes. Custodial Violence in India is widespread, unaccounted for and rarely prosecuted. It contributes to the state of anarchy and lawlessness in many parts of the country. Violence is used as a cheap and easy method of investigation and also as a tool for oppression. It is almost an unwritten understanding that when an officer asks his subordinates to ‘thoroughly interrogate a suspect’ it would simply mean

K Basu v. State of West Bengal , the highest body of justice, the Supreme Court had clearly stated that, “Custodial torture is a naked violation of human dignity. The situation is aggravated when violence occurs within the four walls of a police station by those who are supposed to protect citizens”, also paying consideration to the tediousness of police task in yielding control over its civil population. Human Dignity is the highest form of fundamental right respected even by our most powerful and prestigious statute book, the Indian Constitution. When an individual is taken under custody it means that he/ she becomes the legal property of the state, which also means the state, and its missionaries become their legal guardians and all its institutions are at their disposal to reprimand them as well as guard them. But the idea of state custody has become so alarming that the society fears cooperation and even the notion of police and police