Why we need coroners to probe custodial deaths

The untimely and mysterious death of Ramkumar, accused in the Swathi murder case, has posed uneasy questions of the criminal justice system in the country. If the Swathi murder case gave rise to serious concerns about women safety, the Ramkumar case has people wondering about safety  in police custody. Even if one were to go with the official version of events, that Ramkumar committed suicide whilst in state custody by biting a live electric wire, it then raises significant and alarming questions as to the regime that currently operates within prisons.  Any ability for a prisoner to access live electric wire is contrary to the guidance in the Prison Manual and there can be no relief for the police and prison authorities who seem to have been wholly negligent in ensuring the safety and well being of a high-profile detainee. 

Less than three months ago, the entire state was shocked by the audacity of the daylight murder of 24-year old Swathi. An unrelenting media spotlight and soaring public concern saw the police launch a man-hunt which zeroed in on Ramkumar. The dramatic arrest was marked by controversy with the police claiming that Ramkumar had attempted suicide with the help of a blade. Ramkumar’s family counter-claimed that the police slit his throat to prevent him from speaking out.

In the following days, reports suggested that the police had enough circumstantial evidence such as cell-phone tower markers, discovery of murder weapon and CCTV footage to charge Ramkumar. Yet, nearly 80 days later, the police have not filed the chargesheet in court. As of now, Ramkumar was a person held in judicial custody against whom charges had not been filed and no court had taken cognizance of. Simply put, it has been the word of the police against that of Ramkumar so far; thus Ramkumar was a mere ‘suspect’. It is in such circumstances, that the unfortunate death of Ramkumar has once again raised the issue of custodial safety. In cases of such custodial deaths, there is always a Magisterial Inquest as per Section 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The powers under this Section allow the Magistrate to record evidence, examine the body and even allow the relatives of the deceased to be present during the inquiry. It is said that the Magisterial Inquest has already begun and evidence is being collected from prison authorities and government doctors. 

The Magisterial Inquest provides an alternative mechanism of inquiry into custodial deaths, where police inquiry may seem prejudiced. However, in countries such as United Kingdom, there are separate and independent judicial investigation into custodial deaths by the system of Coroners Inquest, where a Coroner (usually a qualified Advocate and/or medical practitioner) will fully investigate the circumstances surrounding a death in custody. The Coroner’s Inquest process in the UK, under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, is in essence a very similar process to court litigation, where the Coroner is assisted by a randomly selected jury to consider the ‘cause of the death’ in custody. The Coroner and the Jury can give a wide ranging verdict including death by natural causes, suicide, accident or misadventure, lawful killing and unlawful killing. Such proceedings are brought in the public interest as independent judicial proceedings administered and financed by the Government. When a person dies while in state custody in the United Kingdom, there is an additional requirement to conduct a ‘right to life’ investigation – as per Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights – to determine whether the state and its agents have ‘failed to protect the deceased against a human threat or other risk’. In some cases, this is complemented by an independent investigation by a Prison and Probation Ombudsman, who investigates the death with a view to considering the lessons to be learnt from the incident.  

In the Indian context, the system of Coroner’s Inquest was in vogue in a very limited manner in the Bombay and Calcutta Presidency areas under the British rule. While deciding a recent case, Social Jurist vs Union of India 2007, the Delhi High Court had sought the advice of the Law Commission of India whether a suitable model of Coroner’s Inquest could be used across the country. In response, the Law Commission, in its 206^th Report, recommended the use of Coroner’s Inquest and setting up of Coroner’s offices across the country. With an ever increasing number of custodial deaths, it may be time for the Government to consider enacting legislation to set up Coroner’s offices to expertly deal with such cases in a time-bound and transparent manner. Such a system could help establish judicial uniformity across the country and ensure that the necessary medico-legal expertise is available in dealing with such cases. 

While the conspiracy theories surrounding Ramkumar’s death may go away after the report of the Magisterial Inquest, the larger issue of custodial deaths needs to be addressed. Nearly 12,000 cases of custodial deaths have been reported in the five years between 2007 and 2012. Upon hearing these numbers, the Supreme Court in 2013 expressed its dissatisfaction in the measures taken by Centre and State governments with regard to increasing instances of custodial deaths and torture. In the UK, the system of an Inquest as well as an investigation by the Prison and Probation Ombudsman provides an opportunity for the relatives to fully understand the circumstances surrounding the death of the loved ones and brings the State, Prison and Police authorities accountable for the actions and omissions. A system of Coroners may be one of the reforms to the criminal justice system in India which may help curb custodial deaths and inspire public confidence in the actions of the state and its law enforcement agencies.  

Authors:

Manuraj Shunmugasundaram is a lawyer at the Madras High Court

Muthupandi Ganesan is a Barrister-at-Law in the United Kingdom

References:

Sec 176 of CrPC: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1056026/

Law Commission 206^th Report: http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/report206.pdf 

SC – Number of custodial deaths: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/11820-custodial-deaths-in-five-years/articleshow/26283098.cms 

Link to the Article: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/tracking-indian-communities/why-we-need-coroners-to-probe-custodial-deaths/