Police Interrogation and Human Rights

Introduction:

Laws of a democratic country often vary from each other but one element that is found common in all the laws is providing human rights to all the people of the country. These rights are moral principles or norms that describe certain standards of human behaviour and therefore are important for countrymen to possess freedom and enjoy the peace and for a state to maintain the smooth functioning. The society where a person lives in is not a utopian society and therefore certain laws are created to protect the people from the violation of human rights.

Violation of a human right is a crime and if ever happened, the concerned person can contact the Public Officer for Legal Investigations and Criminal Emergencies (POLICE). Police then further take matters into their hands and try to provide justice to the victim and repair the damage by punishing the body reasoned for the act, and while doing so they have to be in the domain of the law. Interrogation by Police is one of the important steps in the justice procedure, because this is the stage where Police interrogate everyone involved, and if possible find new angles and delves into it. Though it is considered an important angle but still there are violations of human rights by the police during interrogation.

Rights of the Accused

It is a fundamental duty of the police to conduct the investigation in every case that is reported. Interrogating and questioning is an integral part of the police investigation. The police gather crucial information by asking questions about the alleged offences. It is every person’s duty to answer accordingly. A person has legal rights while being interrogated.

The Rights are stated below:

1. The police cannot compel accused to make any statement or answer any question that would point to his own guilt for the offences that he is accused of. This is his constitutional right and under Article 20(3) of CrPC, the police have a right to inform the accused of this right as he should have knowledge of his rights.
2. Under section 24 of Indian evidence act and section 163 of CrPC, The police have no right to threaten or compel the accused in a way to admit to an offence which he may or may not have done.
3. The accused has a right to consult a lawyer at the time of the investigation. The lawyer can be from his side during the interrogation but not throughout the case. Under section 41D of CrPC, it is the duty of the police to inform the accused of this right.
4. Under Section 162 of CrPC, the accused cannot be forced to sign his own statement.
5. Section 26 of Indian evidence act, clearly says that any confession that the accused make to the police cannot be held against him or entered as evidence until it is presented before a judicial magistrate.
6. It is a compulsion that women arrestees can only to be interrogated in the presence of women police officers and this was decided in the case of Sheela Barse vs. the State of Maharashtra.[1]
7. Custodial violence is a crime under the law. No person under police interrogation can be tortured, slapped, abused, or ill-treated while he/she is being interrogated or questioned. If the police do so then they can be held liable under the law.
8. Nevertheless, one is bound to cooperate with the police and truthfully answer the questions that are being asked by the police. Under section 161(2) of CrPC, the accused can choose not to answer any question which could implicate or expose him to a criminal charge.

Human Rights Violation by Police

On July 19^th,  2020, in a small town of Sathankulam in Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu, father and son were arrested by the Police because of keeping their mobile shop open beyond the deadline by just 15 minutes. What could be the punishment? Hours of torture, mental and physical and lack of medical attention which ultimately resulted in their deaths. This death was the last straw in the string of police custodial deaths that have been on the rise for many years.

In recent years, police Brutality has been on the rise in India, be it, controlling the crowd of protests, arresting people for the crimes they are accused of or the treatment given to them while they are in custody. The big question arises here is, do the police know its powers? Because even after strict laws they still abuse them or is it the general public who isn’t aware of their own rights? The answer is, Both, i.e. The lack of awareness in the country about the people’s own rights gives the police the rights to abuse their powers and act as if they have done nothing wrong without any accountability for their action. Now the question arises, what if the general population knows their rights, does that stop the Police from abusing their powers? Well, here’s another example from the USA.

On May 25^th, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man was “killed” by Police Authorities in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This death sparked protests all around the globe calling itself “Black Lives Matter”. Protests have still been going on in the USA. The government and the Potus have turned a blind eye to the incident and have instead deployed additional officers and security in various parts of the country where protests are happening or racial profiling is on the rise, to stop it.

What do these separate incidents with the same fate for the victims tell us? What it is said that there were 1731 custodial deaths in 2019 alone in India[2], not taking into account the police brutality that goes unnoticed or isn’t documented. A big change that countries all over the world need is Accountability and Transparency for the law enforcement authorities.

Conclusion

Knowing that there are repercussions for the decisions we take goes a long way in ensuring the right treatment is done. The next big step is spreading a general awareness among the citizens, whichever country it is. As citizens, we have certain rights and certain powers and nobody can violate them. Basic Human Rights are enshrined in almost every Constitution of the country and remedies exist if they are violated. What is needed is the knowledge of those rights and remedies. This goes a long way in providing an equal footing while dealing with law enforcement authorities. Countries, where both of these things exist, are some of the most peaceful countries in the world. 

References:

[1] JT 1988 (3) 15

[2] Richen Norbu Wangchuk, After TN Custodial Deaths, 3 Top Cops on What India Needs to Fight Police Brutality, The better India, (July 28^th, 2020, 10 p.m.), https://www.thebetterindia.com/231280/tamil-nadu-thoothukudi-justice-for-jayaraj-bennix-custodial-deaths-police-reform-india-nor41/.