Custodial deaths in India refer to the deaths of persons in judicial or police custody while undergoing a trial or serving a sentence. The Indian Evidence Act, and Code of Criminal Procedure lays down several guidelines that prevents harming of prisoners. In 1997, India signed the United Nations Convention against Torture, however it is yet to rattify the same. The National Human Rights Commission of India reported 2,307 deaths had occurred in custody from 1 April 2021 to 28 February 2022.
The Article 20 (3) of the Indian Constitution protects the citizens from self incrimination. Sections 24 and 25 of the Indian Evidence Act renders forced confessions and confessions made to the police irrelevant in trials.
As per the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),
The penal code allows sentences of up to seven years for policemen in cases of torture.
On 18 December 1996, in the D. K. Basu vs. state of West Bengal case, which was a result of a Public Interest Litigation based a letter sent by D. K. Basu, a former Calcutta High Court judge and then executive chairman of Legal Aid Services of West Bengal, to the Chief Justice of India on 26 August 1986, the Supreme Court of India suggested 11 guidelines which covered arresting procedures and compensation in case of death of the detainee. The letter had earlier requested the court to examine the issue of frequent custodial deaths, form guidelines to be followed during arrest and formulate compensation to be provided to the victims/families in case of custodial torture or death. The Code of Criminal Procedure was amended in 2008 to incorporate some of the suggestions of the Supreme Court verdict.
On 6 May 2010, the Lok Sabha passed the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010. However, the Rajya Sabha referred the bill to a select committee as it was felt that the bill was not up to the standards of the United Nations Convention against Torture. The revised bill lapsed when the 15th Lok Sabha was dissolved on 18 May 2014.
In 2018, the Law Commission of India suggested in a report that India should ratify the United Nations Convention against Torture, which was signed in 1997, and pass a standalone law against torture of citizens by government agents. The report pointed out that India was facing difficulties in extraditing criminals from other nations dues its reputation of custodial torture.
According to a report released by National Campaign Against Torture, in 2019, there were 1606 deaths which occurred in judicial custody and 125 deaths in police custody. On 26 July 2022, while answering a question in the Lok Sabha, the union minister of state for home affairs revealed that 4,484 cases of custodial deaths were reported in India during the period FY 2020-21 to FY 2021-22. The National Human Rights Commission of India reported 1,606 deaths occurred in judicial custody and 125 deaths in police custody from 1 April 2021 to 28 February 2022.