Custodial Death in Kerala In April 2010, a gruesome custodial death in Kerala was marked with attempts by the police and government to cover up the issue and present barriers to an independent and impartial investigation. Civil society groups approached CHRI to assist in mounting a challenge before the Kerala High Court and asking that the investigation be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). CHRI intervened and secured an order from a single judge transferring the investigation to the CBI. The Kerala government appealed the Order before a Division Bench of the High Court. Fortunately , the Division Bench upheld the order of the single judge. The Kerala government appealed to the Supreme Court say ing that handing over the investigation to the CBI greatly reduced the morale of the police. The Supreme Court was surprised by the behaviour of the Kerala government and asked for the reasoning behind its objection to the CBI conducting an investigation. The Court heavily criticised the role of the police as well as the government in try ing to shield guilty officers and dismissed the appeal. This was a great victory for our police reforms. It demonstrated that we could engage with the police when possible, and confront them when required.
Habeas Corpus Petition in Delhi High Court In May 2008, CHRI filed a writ of Habeas Corpus in the Delhi High Court to rescue a 13-year-old boy taken hostage by the Gujarat police from his home in Delhi when they came looking for his father and could not find him. The boy was brought back after seven day s in the custody of the Gujarat police. The High Court judgement came down heavily on both the Delhi Police and the Gujarat police, and awarded a compensation of Rs. 2.7 lakhs and Rs. 25,000 in costs to the petitioners. It was an important judgement as it is quite rare for the Court to grant such a large compensation. The Gujarat government has decided not to go into appeal and has paid the full amount to the petitioner, which can be read as a rare admission of guilt in a matter concerning the actions of its police towards a member of the minority Muslim community . The judgement has seen justice done in this case, and set a formidable precedent, which will hopefully act as a deterrent for such blatant violation of fundamental rights by any institution of the state.
A departmental inquiry was initiated against the errant officers from Gujarat and an FIR was filed. We are following the progress on this and hope to take it to its logical conclusion. This would be a living example of our work on police accountability .
CHRI continues to monitor the investigation conducted by the CBI and will use this case as a test case to bring accountability into action.
LITIGATION