The powerful get away with crimes, the poor are tortured – Bombay HC launches into Maharashtra Police

Nitish Kashyap & Anuj Agrawal.The Division Bench of VM Kanade and R Dere JJ of the Bombay High Court minced no words while hearing a petition on custodial deaths. Coming down on the State’s failure to install CCTVs at police stations, the High Court recently said that the wrong message was being sent out to society..Kanade J. observed that,.“There is a message that goes out that the rich and powerful get away with big crimes but the poor who commit petty crimes are subjected to torture. The question is really about the state government’s political will because despite clear directions there has been no progress”.The observations were made while hearing a criminal writ petition relating to the death of Angelo Valdaris..In April 2014, Valdaris and three others were arrested by the Railway Police on allegations of chain snatching. Subsequently, the police claim that Valdaris was run over by a train, trying to escape while being taken for a medical checkup. His father, who filed the petition, says that his son was illegally kept in custody for forty-eight hours and died due to police torture..Represented by advocate Yug Mohit Choudhry, the petition before the Bombay High Court not only sought the initiation of criminal prosecution against the police officers, but also sought to eliminate custodial deaths. One of the prayers in the petition sought the installation of CCTV’s in every police station in the state..In August 2014, in a decision Amnesty India described as “landmark” , the Bombay High Court mandated the installation of CCTV cameras across all police stations in the State. It was a direction that the government has failed to comply with despite repeated warnings by the Bombay High Court..Speaking to Bar & Bench, Choudhry said that despite the numerous directives of the High Court, the State government has simply refused to comply. He also said that Maharashtra continues to have the highest number of custodial deaths in the country. In fact, as per data provided by the NCRB, custodial deaths have doubled in Maharashtra since 2013..“From 1999 to 2014, there were 939 custodial deaths in the country, of which 243 (close to 25%) were from Maharashtra. Worse, out of 484 magisterial inquiries that were conducted in these matters, only 33 were conducted in Maharashtra. Let’s go further; 17 policemen were chargesheeted during this period, and zero convictions!”.Two days ago, Yug Mohit Choudhry stated that in accordance with NHRC guidelines, the post mortem of those who died in police custody must be recorded on video. Unless that happens, said Choudhry, these deaths will not stop..Kanade J. came down heavily on the auhtorities, lamenting the failure of the state to implement an order passed in 2014..He further stated,.“It is a shame for the people of this country where the law states the accused is to be treated innocent until proven guilty is subjected to such torture that they lose their lives”.Appearing for the government, government counsel Deshmukh said that a pilot project of CCTV cameras was underway but that the entire process would take some time. Towards the end of the arguments, Kanade J, asked the state to provide specific information on number of deaths from 2014 to 2015, the reason for arrest, and other details..The matter was subsequently adjourned and will now be heard on February 24 at 12:30 pm.

The powerful get away with crimes, the poor are tortured – Bombay HC launches into Maharashtra Police

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