Set up Police Complaints Authorities, NHRC tells Union Home Ministry, States
The Hindu
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Fifteen years after the Supreme Court had issued directions for police reforms, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the State Governments to set up Police Complaints Authorities as per the judgment in Prakash Singh vs. Union of India, 2006.
The NHRC’s core advisory group on criminal justice system reforms has said there is an “immediate need to set up police complaints authorities at the State/UT and district level” as per the Supreme Court’s directives, according to the minutes of its meeting published on Tuesday. The core group, which met on August 18, recommended to the MHA and the States that the status of compliance should be displayed on the websites of the Ministry and the State Home Departments.
The NHRC group also said the MHA and the Law Ministry should consider implementing the recommendations of the 113th report of the Law Commission to add Section 114 B to the Indian Evidence Act. This would ensure that in case a person sustains injuries in police custody, it is presumed that the injuries were inflicted by the police and the burden of proof to explain the injury lies on the authority concerned.