Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Friday expressed concern over the rise in extra-judicial killings and incidents of police violence in the country, questioning the manner in which accused persons are sometimes taken into police custody and killed in purported encounters or other incidents.
He was speaking at the “Discourse on Ethics in Criminal Litigation, Trial by Media & Admissibility of Statements,” organised by the Centre for Discourse on Criminal and Constitutional Jurisprudence, in New Delhi on Friday.
Justice Bhuyan said he had initially believed that custodial violence was a thing of the past but was forced to reconsider that view. “I thought custodial violence was a thing of the past. But I was forced to reconsider it. Extra-judicial killings are on the rise in India,” he said.
Justice Bhuyan also questioned the practice of taking accused persons out at unusual hours for purposes such as crime-scene reconstruction when there is no apparent urgency to do so. “Why do you have to take an accused in police custody to recreate a crime scene at 3 o’clock in the morning? Could you not have waited till sunrise? What is the grave urgency?” he asked.
The judge referred to the various explanations sometimes offered by the police following the death of an accused in custody or during such exercises.
These, he said, could include claims that the accused attempted to snatch a rifle, that a scuffle took place during which firing occurred, or that the accused was hit by a speeding truck. He also referred to a case where an accused was said to have been depressed and had allegedly jumped into a well.
Justice Bhuyan said such incidents could lead people to question whether “shortcut methods” were being adopted to cover up shortcomings in investigation, particularly where investigators were aware of the likely outcome of a criminal trial.
“Right thinking people are forced to think that is it a way to cover up the lacuna in investigation, knowing fully well the outcome of trial, these shortcut methods are adopted,” he said.
He emphasised that such practices were inconsistent with India’s constitutional framework. “Our constitutional system does not approve of these type of situations,” Justice Bhuyan said.
The judge also raised concerns over instances of young IPS officers personally attacking demonstrators.
In this context, he recalled his earlier comments at another event regarding police excesses against protesters. “But you see young IPS officers personally attacking demonstrators with so much anger on their face. What for? You are a professional police officer, why do you need to get so agitated? Beating up a demonstrator with bare hands,” Justice Bhuyan said.
He said such conduct raises serious concerns about what could happen to an accused person in police custody, particularly at night. “One shudders to think what would happen if such a police officer gets custody at night. Can you imagine what would happen to an accused in police custody at night? Many of us are quite wary of sending people to police custody, not for nothing,” he remarked.