19th April 2023 (7 Topics)
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Extra Judicial Killings
Context
The murder of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother by assailants while in police custody, and the ‘encounter’ deaths of Atiq’s son Asad and an accomplice have generated a lot of heat and debate in India on custodial deaths and extra-judicial killings.
What are extra-judicial killings?
- Extra-judicial killings are those when the accused person is killed or executed illegally by the police officials in charge of the accused person before the judgment of the trial arrives.
- No law in India exclusively defines encounter killings but it is still classified under “Cases Registered against State Police Personnel for Human Right Violation” in the National Crime Records Bureau.
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The increasing numbers While India has seen a 15% decline in encounter killing cases registered in the six years between 2016-’17 and 2021-’22 – till March 10, 2022 – the cases shot up by 69.5% in the last two years. |
Why is it a threat?
- Questioning the separation of power: Extrajudicial violence does away with separation of powers in a democracy.
- Threat to law: It is a threat to the rule of law.
- Violates human rights: It straight away violates the human rights of individuals, denying them any opportunity of contacting their legal representatives or legal advisors.
- Violates fundamental rights: Encounter or extrajudicial killings violate the fundamental rights of offenders given in the Constitution of India, which mandates that every person has a right to life and liberty and equality before law. The fundamental rights which are violated because of these unlawful killings under the Constitution of India are:
- Article 14- the right to equality.
- Article 21– the right to life and personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.
- Article 22– the right to be protected against arrest and detention.
What does the latest case show?
- Systemic incompetence
- Perverse machismo
- Weak institutional structures
The Exception
- However, as per Right to Private Defence under Sections 96-106 in the Indian Penal Code, 1860, there are certain circumstances when a death in an encounter shall not be counted as an offence in India.
- This law applies to every citizen of the country and not just police officials
- Self-defence: Under this law, death in an encounter will not amount to a criminal offence when it is caused by an action taken to defend yourself.
- This means police officials may injure the criminal in order to defend themselves or for maintaining peace and order, but their motive must be scrutinised.
- If the death cannot be justified under the law then the police must be tried under culpable homicide.
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