The Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana on Sunday expressed his concerns over the increasing cases of custodial torture and police atrocities in the country and said that the threat to human rights and bodily integrity is the highest at the police stations despite Constitutional declarations and guarantees.
Ramana, while addressing an event organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), said: “The threat to human rights and bodily integrity are the highest in the police station. Custodial torture and other police atrocities are problems that still prevail in our society. In spite of Constitutional declarations and guarantees, lack of effective legal representation at the police stations is a huge detriment to arrested or detained person.”Bodily integrity is the inviolability of the physical body and emphasizes the importance of the personal autonomy of human beings over their own bodies.
“To keep police excesses in check dissemination of information about the constitutional right to legal aid and availability of free legal aid services is necessary. The installation of display boards and outdoor hoardings in every police station/prison is a step in this direction,” he said.
For a society to remain governed by the rule of law, the CJI said it is imperative to bridge the gap of accessibility to justice between the highly privileged and the most vulnerable.
He pointed out that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, we have successfully been able to continue our legal aid services.
“Majority of those, who do not have access to justice are from rural and remote areas which suffer from lack of connectivity. I have already written to the government emphasizing the need to bridge the digital divide on a priority basis,” he added.
Referring to the move by the NALSA to rope in Department of Post, Justice Ramana said: “The services of the existing postal network can be utilised to spread awareness regarding the availability of free legal aid services and to increase the outreach of legal services to the eligible category of persons, especially to the persons residing in rural and far-flung areas of the country”.
