The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday called custodial deaths the “worst kind of crime” and a “profound failure of the constitutional machinery”, while ordering fresh inquiries in 262 cases.
The court ordered fresh judicial inquiries after it was informed that the state had bypassed mandatory legal procedure in these cases. A division bench of Chief Justice MS Sonak and Justice Rajesh Shankar was hearing a public interest litigation filed by one Mohammed Mumtaz Ansari.
The court examined state data about 427 custodial deaths between 2018 and 2026. It noted that the state’s affidavit itself said that 262 of these cases were inquired into by executive magistrates instead of judicial magistrates, despite a legal requirement for judicial inquiries.
It said it was “shocked beyond words” at the scale of non-compliance on the matter.
The bench observed that bypassing mandatory judicial inquiry provisions amounted to “administrative lawlessness” and violated constitutional guarantees of equality before law and right to lifel
“The right to life is not a mere biological concept, it is an expansive guarantee that inherently encompasses the right to live with human dignity,” the bench said, adding that even if a person is accused or convicted of a crime, their “entitlement to a dignified and peaceful life remains inviolable”.
The court also highlighted inconsistencies in...
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