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e Voice Of
Human Rights Watch e-news weekly
Spreading the light of humanity & freedom
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Editor : Nagaraj.M.R....................vol.3
issue.08.....................05/05/2007
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Editorial
: FAKE ENCOUNTERS , LOCK-UP DEATHS & 3RD DEGREE TORTURE BY
POLICE IN
Recently,
it has been reported in the media , how in gujarath state high ranking police
officials took SUPARI to murder & committed the murders by giving it the
name of encounter. Nowadays , it has become common place that police take law
into their own hands , settle scores , conducts their own courts of justice
like compromise panchayaths at police stations. All these acts of police are
illegal , the police must first thought the lessons of law before enforcing it.
The murderers ,criminals in police uniform must be punished at the earliest.
JAI HIND. VANDE MATARAM.
Your's
sincerely,
NAGARAJ.M.R.
3RD DEGREE TORTURE
PERPETRATED BY POLICE IN INDIA- Gross violations of human rights by police
At the outset , HRW salutes the few honest police personnel who are silently
doing their duties inspite of pressures , harassment by
political bosses & corrupt superiors , inspite of frequent transfers ,
promotion holdups , etc. overcoming the lure of bribe ,those few are silently
doing their duties without any publicity or fanfare. we salute them & pay
our respects to them and hereby appeal to those few honest to catch their
corrupt colleagues.
The police are trained , to crack open the cases of crimes by just holding onto
a thread of clue. Based on that clue they investigate
like "Sherlock holmes" and apprehend the real criminals. nowadays ,
when police are under various pressures , stresses they are
frequently using 3rd degree torture methods on innocents. Mainly there are 3
reasons for this :
1) when the investigating officer (I.O) lacks the brains of Sherlock holmes ,
to cover-up his own inefficiency he uses 3rd degree
torture on innocents.
2) When the I.O is biased towards rich , powerful crooks , to frame innocents
& to extract false confessions from them , 3rd degree
torture is used on innocents.
3) When the I.O is properly doing the investigations , but the higher-ups need
very quick results under work stress I.O uses 3rd
degree torture on innocents.
Nowhere in statuette books , police are legally authorized to punish let alone
torture the detainees / arrested / accussed / suspects. Only the judiciary has
the right to punish the guilty not the police. Even the judiciary doesn't have
the right to punish the accussed / suspects , then how come police are using 3rd
degree torture unabetted. Even during encounters , police only have the legal
right , authority to immobilize the opponents so as to arrest them but not to
kill them.
There is a reasoning among some sections of society & police that use of
3RD DEGREE TORTURE by police is a detterent of crimes. It is false &
biased. Take for instance there are numerous scams involving 100's of crores of
public money like stock scam , fodder scam , etc involving rich businessmen ,
VVIP crooks. Why don't police use 3rd degree torture against such rich crooks
and recover crores of public money where as the police use 3rd degree torture
against a pick-pocketer to recover hundred rupees stolen ? double standards by
police.
In media we have seen numerous cases of corrupt police officials in league with
criminals. For the sake of bribe , such police officials bury cases , destroy
evidences , go slow , frame innocents , murder innocents in the name of
encounter , etc. why don't police use 3rd degree torture against their corrupt
colleagues who are aiding criminals , anti nationals ? double standards by
police.
All the bravery of police is shown before poor , innocents , tribals , dalits ,
before them police give the pose of heroes. Whereas ,
before rich , VVIP crooks , they are zeroes. They are simply like scarecrows
before rich crooks.
Torture in any form by anybody is inhuman & illegal. For the purpose of
investigations police have scientific investigative tools like
polygraph, brain mapping , lie detector , etc. these scientific tools must be
used against rich crooks & petty criminals without bias.
hereby we urge the GOI & all state governments :
1) to book cases of murder against police personnel who use 3rd degree torture
on detainees and kill detainees in the name of
encounter killings.
2) To dismiss such inhuman , cruel personnel from police service and to forfeit
all monetary benefits due to them like gratuity ,
pension , etc.
3) To pay such forfeited amount together with matching government contribution
as compensation to family of the victim's of 3rd degree torture & encounter
killings.
4) To review , all cases where false confessions were extracted from innocents
by 3rd degree torture.
5) To make liable the executive magistrate of the area , in whose jurisdiction
torture is perpetrated by police on innocents.
6) To make it incumbent on all judicial magistrates ,to provide a torture free
climate to all parties , witnesses in cases before his court.
7) To make public the amount & source of ransom money paid to forest
brigand veerappan to secure the release of matinee idol mr. raj kumar.
8) To make public justice A.J.Sadashiva's report on "torture of tribals ,
human rights violations by Karnataka police in M.M.HILLS ,
KARNATAKA".
9) To make it mandatory for police to use scientific tools of investigations
like brain mapping , polygraph , etc without bias
against suspects rich or poor.
10) To include human rights education in preliminary & refresher training
of police personnel.
11) To recruit persons on merit to police force who have aptitude & knack
for investigations.
12) To insulate police from interference from politicians & superiors.
13) To make police force answerable to a neutral apex body instead of political
bosses. Such body must be empowered to deal with all service matters of police.
14) The political bosses & the society must treat police in a humane manner
and must know that they too have practical limitations. Then on a reciprocal
basis , police will also treat others humanely.
15) The police must be relieved fully from the sentry duties of biggies &
must be put on detective , investigative works.
The Business Of Encounter Killing By Sorit
Gupto
Encounter killing is again a hot
topic nowadays but with a little difference. This time it is for the suspension
of a sub inspector from Mumbai, Daya nayak, who is better known as a Encounter
specialist.
Encounters or extra judicial killings
are not a new phenomena for Indian state, though it has changed its position or
acceptability in the public psyche for past few years. Thanks goes largely to
the Mumbai film industry for making several films 'inspired' by the real life
of an encounter specialist. After the box office success of such films, one can
say that the act of extra judicial killing , which otherwise is a gross
violation of the Justice system, the very aspect of our Constitution( by
denying the fundamental right to live), the civil liberties and the human
rights, now got legitimacy in the Indian society.
The 'Rise and Fall' of this Sub
inspector is nothing but story of complete violation of the very rule of law ,
which the police department is supposed to enforce.
We are catered with the biographical
sketch of this encounter specialist by different news channels , about how from
a humble beginning as a boy in a tea stall he becomes the heroic face of the
state police department . According to an unconfirmed 'estimate' he has gunned
down some 80-90 persons till date.
However the most strange thing about
the whole saga is the fact that, every one is bothering about his crime of
earning the huge amount of wealth , disproportionate to his known source of
income, but no one is giving a damn to his murderous record which is much more
disturbing vis-a-vis to his known source of power to do so. Now it is not just
a known fact but established fact also that what ever he did in his tenure ,he
had actually killed people without having any right ,like many other famous or
yet to famous 'Encounter Specialists' are doing .Now, they keep on doing
because they are doing the same under the full protection and patronage of the
state. It is a chilling fact for any civilized society but as far as we are
concern , we simply habituated and grasped it.
Be it Ansal Plaza Shoot out in New
Delhi , Or Killing of four person in the outskirts of Ahmedabd , more or less
after every encounter, the story or the logic provided by the state to the
people, is too innocent to compared only with the Aesop's fables , that there
was a bad man who fired at the police, and police in retaliation fired back to
him and he died on the spot. Simple. Very simple. And for the sake of the rule
of law please do not make complications by raising disturbing quarries as how
not even a single police person hurt by the firing of the bad man? Why police
did not tried to catch the person alive ? and so on
However after 9-11, we the people are
provided with some upgraded set of logic's. One can name it Gen X logic's.
These are logic's with veiled threat. Now it is not just a mere fable but with
a strong massage encrypted in it ,' either you are with us or you are part of
enemy' and that is why if you try to raise all these disturbing question you
could be branded as the enemy. Better you believe what the state says.
Now coming again to the very police sub inspector. It is said that he has
earned enormous amount of wealth by manipulating his duty of executing extra
judicial killings , in other words ,a long list of fake encounters, by favoring
one group of criminal against the other. His departmental bosses are very much
concern about his alleged misuse of power. The Irony is, being an encounter
specialist itself is the product of gross indiscipline and utter misuse of the
power provided by the state to the police department .
So, what new thing they are going to
get through "the trial"?
If it is proved that this encounter
specialist really has earned this huge wealth by manipulating his ability of
encounters, by favoring ( read killing) individual of one particular gang of
mafia against the other, which is a truth yet to discover, what charges are
going to frame against this fellow?
Dealing with this particular case one
should have to keep in the mind that , this fellow has acquired this huge
amount of sum by simply cold blooded murdering a number of people. Just like
any other member of the organized crime he had taken 'supari'.
This case is a typical in the nature
as corruption is just one part of it and the other part is made up of homicide.
Part of the media is shrewdly downplaying the later half by overplaying the
first half and that is the most dangerous aspect of this particular case.
Though there are number of
punishments prescribed in IPC for killing a fellow human being starting to
rigorous imprisonment for years to death penalty, but our encounter specialist
do not have to be worry about all that , rather he knows it very well that he
will face some petty charges of corruption to maximum.
A simple sub inspector can not become
an encounter specialist over night if there is no political patronage behind
him. As far as patronage is concern we have this news published in The Hindu on
And last but not least ,If a mere
police sub inspector can doctor or manipulate this phenomena of 'Encounter', It
would be a chilling realization for anyone that magnitude wise how much scope
of manipulation is there for the state to eliminate their political rivals
through this 'simple' mechanism of extra judicial killings.
Today, Daya nayak has been arrested
after a prolonged drama of "to arrest and not to arrest'.
This
is the high time to examine the very phenomena of encounter thoroughly.
JUDICIAL PROPRIETY AND TEHELKA By: Rajeev
Dhavan
THE JUDICIARY is in the news in ways that do not do it credit. Beginning with
the `defeated'
Justice V. Ramaswamy
impeachment in the early 1990s, the last decade portrays scandals. These
include the Bombay Pay-off Scandal of 1990, the controversy over the Bombay
High Court Chief Justice Bhattacharjee receiving large "foreign"
royalties in 1995, controversies, however founded or unfounded, over Justices
Punchi and Anand - both Chief Justices of India - and Justice Bharucha's
declaration that 20 per cent of judges are corrupt. The year 2002 has been a
bad year. In
Judges reign and rule - with little external effective oversight over their
conduct. Judicial independence cannot encompass judicial lawlessness, rampant
corruption or conduct unbecoming. Justice Ramaswamy's impeachment suffered
defeat in Parliament. The Supreme Court's Committee opined he could not be
denied work. In
Witness the cases of Hastings and Clairbourne in
An intermediate method has to be created so that judges are answerable and can
be disciplined without compromising their independence. But, it is not just a
question of disciplining judges; but, also of dealing with complaints against
them in a swift and effective way. Such mechanisms exist for the lower
judiciary, but not for High Court and Supreme Court judges. From the
supercession controversy of 1973 when three judges were superceded for the post
of CJI, there have been calls for a National Judicial Commission both to (a)
make judicial appointments (which after the 1982, 1993 and 1998 judgments are -
and, that too, not quite satisfactorily - in the hands of a conclave of Supreme
Court judges) and (b) deal with complaints, corruption and misconduct. But,
ongoing suggestions for a National Commission have fallen on fallow ground.
Having wrested the patronage of appointment, the judges have dragged their feet
on issues of judicial discipline except to produce unenforceable codes of
conduct. What are required are constitutional and statutory amendments.
Recent history shows that where there is a will, constitutional amendments are
possible. But, there is a lack of political and judicial will to introduce
changes. Today, judges collectively and in judicial orders make all kinds of
suggestions on their pay, salary, perks and other things. But no consensus
suggestion to interrogate judicial indiscipline emerges with credible clarity.
Individually
In the midst of all this comes the controversy over the commendable resignation
of Justice Venkataswami who was the sole Commissioner of the Tehelka
Commission. Three issues arise. The first is: what went wrong? Something did.
Sometimes judges do hold two post-retirement posts - without conflict or demur.
But, the Tehelka Commission was not just an inquiry but an inquisition in which
the Government had a massive political stake. The proposal to give another
assignment to Mr. Venkataswami whilst he investigated Tehelka and its
discontents should never have been made. The next slip up was Chief Justice
Bharucha's recommendation behind which the Government seeks refuge. No less,
the offer of appointment should have been declined. This is not a case of
conspiracy, corruption or misconduct. Mr. Venkataswami integrity is beyond
dispute.
The famous Pinochet case (1991) was re-heard because Lord Hoffman had broad
links with a charity which, though not before the 'Lords', had a stake in the
cause. In the Curative Petition case (2002), the Indian Supreme Court drew
sustenance from the `Pinochet' example on the premise that justice must not
only be done but always appear to be done. This sets the tone. Mr. Venkataswami
has led by example. Purity is as important as cleanliness. At least one present
judge of the Supreme Court declined an above board invitation to a seminar from
an American university on the basis that it was unacceptable that anyone other
than the Government of
The second issue that arises out of Tehelka is whether Mr. Venkataswami can
simply be replaced by another judge. There is a stateable case that he cannot.
Section 8A of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, was amended in 1971 to
permit a Commission to continue if a vacancy arose in a multi-member
Commission. The assumption of continuity would survive because a member or
members would continue. But, section 8A is inapplicable for a single-member
Commission or where an entire Commission ceases to exist. It becomes
non-existent (non est) and ceases to function (functus officio). Continuity is
broken. Replacing Commissions afresh contrives its own politics. There is an
even chance that any replacement appointment would be challenged to the
discomfiture of any new appointee. This does not mean that the records of the
Commission are not available for public use. So far, the only real public
interest part of the Commission's work was over the military deals - which was
heard in camera. These can be examined by a Joint Parliamentary Committee as
raw evidence to interrogate lapses. The other aspect of the Commission's
inquiry investigates Tehelka's journalistic conduct and wild, unfounded
allegations that Tehelka tried to destabilise the stock exchange and personally
benefit Tehelka's people and financiers. A lot of this is humbug. The
`journalistic' ethics issue does not need a Commission's wisdom, but along with
the accountability of the electronic media should be generally examined by
public discourse. There are enough legal provisions to deal with
`destabilising' frauds; but, the Government knows that they do not have a
credible leg to stand on. On this basis, the Tehelka Commission needs to be
wound up; but the `defence deals' examined by Parliament.
The third issue relates to the desirability of post-retirement appointments for
judges. There is a dilemma here. Although Inquiry Commission reports generally
gather dust, there is a public faith that only judges should head such
inquiries - indeed, that is what made the T.T. Krishnamachari and Kairon
inquiries of the 1950s credible. The answer lies in less inquiries and
carefully chosen incumbents. Today, an inquiry is a general panacea to avoid
any public allegation. The Commission process has been devalued. Several
statutes - such as the Human Rights and others - necessitate judicial
appointments. Such jobs cannot be multiplied as inducements.
are massively powerful. They both compensate bad governance as well as fulfil
the judicial quest for power. Judges may err in their judgments. But, if
confidence in the Judiciary abates, Indian governance is in peril.
Are
our Indian Judges Dictators? No.. - BY JOY KAIDARATH
Do we have Dictators in
For this question we will have to find
out what are the qualifications of a Dictator.
Dictator is a person who
makes laws. Dictator is a person who interprets laws. Dictator is a
person who executes laws. A person behaves in an tyrannical manner. A ruler who is unconstrained by law
If this is true who makes laws in
Executive: Again executive body is also under check. You can criticize them openly. (You can
even criticize Indian President) They get all the criticism. There are
many ways to check their power if one wants to.
Judiciary
they are people who are not elected. They make hundreds of laws (in the name of precedents). They
interpret laws as they like or as per the rules of interpretation (May be some of
the time no rules of interpretation is followed, that must be mistake - will
not anyone think?). Do they Condon delays and denies justice to the worthy person
without even asking explanation from the guilty , i do not think so.
Even in the cases where the
legislature has given remedy to the people to have speedy remedy do they delays
the matters forever? I do not think so. Does any one has a different
openion? There is no real move from the part of the
judiciary to fasten up the matters. Can
we actually say this? They say the Government does not take steps to speed up the
matters, and the governments say that they are not guilty. Do you think that this
blame game is going on? Ultimately what happens, in
Recently I was sitting in a Court Room of
Now who lost the money? Government that is the public lost the
money. Who cares? No one cares. The persons who got
money are wise people, because they do not have to pay it back. Why? because of the long duration. Now they cannot even punish the Bank or Government officers,
because most of them might be dead or by the time all appeal and all are over
all will be dead.
Nobody cares, Even now this is happening. Long
delays you make, you can escape with everything. Even if this may
not be the case this is want I may tend to think from the affairs I am seeing
in the court
Just think According to the preset way
of running of the court and from the information
I gathered, commercial causes are being dealt with by a judge twice a
week. Even if a judge decide on 25 matters per week at least 1000 cases
(I am calculating 25 X 40 weeks) would be over. If even this cannot be
done, then why do we need a judiciary, just for incurring expenditure?
(Are our judges so incapable of producing the results? I do not think so)
If this could be done,
then how this back log has come? Then what is the difference between
commercial causes cases and other cases?
No body can criticize the
judges (Because it would be contempt of Court). Even if a judge make a judgment violating all kinds of
interpretation rules it is very difficult to complain against that judge. CBI will
not take case, no executive can take case against them, Even if you complain to
Chief Justice (Even Cheif Justice of
When British went from
here they gave us Laws and a court system. (May not be efficient once as
Indians are capable of making). Even after 55 + years of
Now Are we ruled by
Dictators? Are our judges dictators according to the defenitions given
above - not in theory but in practice? I
think I am not able to decide. I do not know the answer. I do not think
that they are dictoctors. I think our judges are good judges, without
having any kind of corruption, otherwise they would have find it out.
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