Extra Judicial Killings

Extra Judicial Killings

• Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) has expressed its views on Extra-Judicial Killings (EJK) in India, after an Encounter in Uttar Pradesh, stating that the right to life as a Fundamental Right enshrined in the Constitution and EJKs are a violation of this right.
• The SC also iterated that in recent years, there have been several cases of encounters and extra-judicial killings in India, which have raised concerns about the misuse of power by the police.

Extra Judicial Killing :-

• Refers to the killing of a person by the state or its agents, without any judicial or legal proceedings.
  • This means that the person is killed without a trial, due process, or any legal justification.
• Constitutional Provisions:
  • The Constitution guarantees the Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21, which is non-negotiable and applicable to everyone. It is the responsibility of the police to follow the Constitution and protect the Right to Life of every individual, regardless of innocence or guilt.
• Rights of Police:
  • The police can use force, including lethal force, in self-defense or to maintain peace and order.
  • Every person has the right to self-defense under Section-96 of the Indian Penal Code.
  • Section-46 of the Criminal Procedure Code allows the police to use force, including lethal force, to arrest someone accused of a serious crime.
• Status of Extra Judicial Killing in India:
  • 15% decline in encounter killing cases registered between 2016-’17 and 2021-’22 – till March 2022 – the cases shot up by 69.5% in the last two years.
  • India has registered 813 cases of encounter killings in the last six years.
  • In the six years since April 2016, Chhattisgarh recorded the most extrajudicial killing cases t 259, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 110 and Assam with 79.

Causes behind Extra Judicial Killing –

• Public Support:
• Political Support:
• Punitive Violence:
• Hero- Worshiping:
• Inefficiency of Police:

Guidelines Related to Encounters in India :-

• Supreme Court:
  • In “People’s Union for Civil Liberties v State of Maharashtra” 2014 :-
  • Registration of a First Information Report (FIR) as mandatory, along with provisions for a magisterial inquiry.
  • Involving the next of kin of the deceased in the inquiry.
  • Keeping written records of intelligence inputs.
  • Investigation to be carried out by an independent agency, such as the CID, to ensure a fair and impartial investigation.
  • Information about the incident must be sent to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) or the State Human Rights Commission, although involvement of the NHRC is not necessary unless there is serious doubt about independent and impartial investigation.
• These requirements/norms must be strictly observed in all cases of death and grievous injury in police encounters and should be treated as law declared under Article 141 of the Constitution of India.

NHRC:

• In 1997, the NHRC provided guidelines for police to register information about encounter deaths, allow independent investigation by the State CID (Central Investigation Department), and grant compensation to the deceased’s dependents in case of police officers being convicted.
• In 2010, these guidelines were amended to include registering an FIR, conducting a magisterial inquiry, and reporting all death cases to the NHRC within 48 hours by the Senior Superintendent of Police or Superintendent of Police. After three months, a second report must be sent with the postmortem report, inquest report, and enquiry findings.

Practice Questions for Prelims

Which among the following is the correct statement in context with eligibility of chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)?
a) The chairman of NHRC must have been a judge of Supreme Court of India
b) The chairman of NHRC must have been a judge of High Court of Indian state or Supreme Court of India
c) The chairman of NHRC must have experience of 15 years of practice as a human rights lawyer in Supreme Court of India
d) The chairman of NHRC must have been a Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India

Ans. d

Mains Practice Question

The extra judicial killings are violative of basic human rights and fundamental rights. Analyse. Further suggest the measure to be taken to curb the this menace.

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