Court on custodial death: Dead person equally entitled to justice
K.Kaushik@timesgroup.com
Madurai: 04.12.2020
The legitimacy of the state suffers a big dent in cases of custodial deaths, and it can be set right only by ensuring transparent investigation, the Madras high court has said. Transferring investigation into the alleged custodial torture case of a man to the CB-CID, the court issued directions to follow during postmortem.
“The foundations of any democratic government rest on popular acceptance. Though the state primarily functions through its coercive apparatus, its actions must be perceived as proper by the people. What the government does must inspire the confidence of the people,” Justice G R Swaminathan observed.
“Every time a custodial death occurs, the legitimacy of the state suffers a big dent. A dead person is equally entitled to justice,” observed the judge. The judge said whenever someone suffers an unnatural death, the circumstances that led to it will have to be unearthed, else, there would be no closure.
The court was hearing a petition filed by K Santhosh, who stated that the Saptur police had taken his younger brother Ramesh in custody in September. Later, Ramesh was found hanging in a tree in a hillock near his house.
The judge said the judicial magistrate conducting the inquiry shall ensure that the family of the deceased are given access to see the bodyand are also allowed to take video and photos before postmortem begins. The autopsy shall be carried out by a team of two doctors with a master’s degree in forensic medicine and attached to a medical college hospital in TN. The whole body shall be X-rayed and the entire autopsy should be videographed.
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