HUMAN RIGHTS AND POLICING

1 HUMAN RIGHTS AND POLICING : Landmark Supreme Court Directives & National HUMAN RIGHTS Commission Guidelines Researched and Written by Mandeep Tiwana Edited by Maja Daruwala Editorial Assistance/ Credits In-house: Charmaine Rodrigues, Devika Prasad, Joshi, Swati Mehta External: Pande, Professor of Law, Delhi University, Singh, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, Sima Gulati, Advocate, Delhi High Court Cover design: Jyoti Bhargava Print Layout: Chenthil Kumar Paramasivam Commonwealth HUMAN RIGHTS Initiative The Commonwealth HUMAN RIGHTS Initiative is an independent, non-partisan, international non-governmental organisation mandated to ensure the practical realisation of HUMAN RIGHTS in Commonwealth countries.

2 HUMAN RIGHTS advocacy and education are at the core of all of CHRI s activities, and the aim and end of all its publications The objectives of CHRI are to promote awareness of and adherence to the Harare Principles, Universal Declaration of HUMAN RIGHTS and other internationally recognised HUMAN RIGHTS instruments and domestic instruments supporting HUMAN RIGHTS in Commonwealth member states. CHRI is headquartered in New Delhi and has offices in London and Accra. CHRI is working in the following areas Right to Information Police Reforms Prison Reforms Constitutionalism HUMAN RIGHTS Advocacy Facilitation of Judicial Dialogue CHRI presents a Biennial Report on HUMAN RIGHTS Issues to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet (CHOGM) Executive Committee, Headquarters, New Delhi: Verghese (Chair), Parekh (Treasurer), Anu Aga, T.

3 Ananthachari, Dhillon, Madhava Menon, Pillai, Rao International Advisory Commission, Chair: Sam Okudzeto Trustee Committee, Chair: Nihal Jayawickrama Copyright CHRI, New Delhi, April 2005 ISBN: 81- 88205 -09 - 05 CHRI New Delhi Office B- 11, Sarvodaya Enclave New Delhi 110 017 INDIA Tel: + 91- 11 - 2652 8152, 2685 0523 Fax:+ 91- 11 2646 4688 E- Mail: Website: Contents Foreword .. (i) Introduction .. 1 Registration & Investigation of Offences State of Haryana v Bhajan Lal .. 3 State of West Bengal v Swapan Kumar Guha.

4 5 Anthony v State of Kerala .. 7 Nandini Satpathy v Dani .. 9 People s Union for Civil Liberties [PUCL] v Union of India and another .. 11 Delhi Domestic Working Women s Forum v Union of India and others .. 13 Arrest and Detention Joginder Kumar v State of and others .. 15 Basu v State of West Bengal .. 17 Sheela Barse v State of Maharashtra . 20 Icchu Devi Choraria v Union of India .. 22 Gopalanachari v State of Kerala .. 24 Handcuffing/Chaining Prem Shankar Shukla v Delhi Administration.

5 26 Citizens for Democracy v State of Assam . 28 Bail and Bonds Hussainara Khatoon v Home Secretary State of Bihar .. 30 Motiram and Others v State of .. 32 Compensation Nilabati Behera v State of Orissa .. 34 National HUMAN RIGHTS Commission Guidelines NHRC Guidelines on Encounter 36 NHRC Guidelines on Lie Detector Tests .. 39 NHRC Guidelines on Police-Public 41 NHRC Guidelines on 43 Afterword .. 46 Annexures Code of Conduct for the Police in India 47 Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials.

6 49 Index .. 51 (i) Justice Verma Former Chief Justice of India & Former Chairperson National HUMAN RIGHTS Commission Foreword The presumption that everyone knows the law is a myth that causes needless suffering to millions of people in India especially those who are unlettered. Ignorance of laws and the RIGHTS guaranteed by them facilitates blatant misuse of authority by law enforcers, whose job is to protect people s RIGHTS . Merely putting in place, provisions for the protection of HUMAN RIGHTS without empowering people through HUMAN RIGHTS education about the means to ensure their compliance is meaningless.

7 Rule of law to be meaningful must meet the end of legal awareness. One of the essential functions of the National HUMAN RIGHTS Commission (NHRC) is to spread a HUMAN RIGHTS culture, and to aid the empowerment of people for the better protection of HUMAN RIGHTS in the country. Non-governmental organisations in particular have been making a valuable contribution in this respect by sharing the responsibility of the State and the NHRC. The Commonwealth HUMAN RIGHTS Initiative (CHRI) is one such organisation actively involved in this effort. This compilation is a step in that direction. While police officers must know the limits and nature of their authority, citizens too, must know their RIGHTS , even when they have to answer to the law.

8 A proper balance of individual RIGHTS and public interest has to be achieved through the mechanism of the rule of law. This is the essence of HUMAN RIGHTS law and the avowed purpose of this compilation. The law laid down by the Supreme Court is the law of the land and binds everyone. The Supreme Court decisions included in this compilation relate to matters impinging on the basic HUMAN RIGHTS of individuals to life and liberty, which are sacrosanct. The NHRC guidelines are meant to inform citizens as well as the police about their RIGHTS and duties; to enable people to protect themselves with this knowledge; and to guide the police in the performance of their task by indicating that any transgression would be illegal.

9 I do hope this compilation will serve its purpose of improving knowledge about the law amongst citizens and amongst personnel of law enforcement agencies. 9. February 2005 Verma B-53, Sector 39, Noida, Gautam Buddha Nagar, ( ), India 201 301 Ph: 91- 120-2570166. E mail: (i) This compilation and the accompanying research, advocacy and dissemination has been made possible with the financial support of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.

10 (ii) 1 Introduction Respect for HUMAN RIGHTS lies at the heart of good governance. In a democratic society, it is the responsibility of the State to protect and promote HUMAN RIGHTS . All State institutions whether they are the police department, the army, the judiciary or civil administration have a duty to respect HUMAN RIGHTS , prevent HUMAN RIGHTS violations, and take active steps for the promotion of HUMAN RIGHTS . The role of the police is especially significant in this respect. The police is charged with the responsibility of maintaining order and enforcing laws. Therefore, the onus of bringing those who break the law including laws which protect people s HUMAN RIGHTS before the criminal justice system lies on the police.