Last fortnight, the Madras High Court came down heavily at the Chennai police for detaining six young men for over four months on the suspicion that they were among a group of 20 who had accosted Brahmins at several locations in the city and cut off their sacred threads. The city police commissioner used the Goondas Act against them to keep them in jail and prevent them from obtaining bail. The High Court, however, called their detention "a total misuse of power" and criticised the police for detaining people on mere suspicion.
Further north, detention on equally flimsy grounds is a common experience at police stations in Delhi, where students and activists are detained almost daily for organising protests at the Jantar Mantar site that has officially been designated as a site for demonstrations. While some are let go after six or seven hours, others report facing harassment and are often denied their basic rights inside the premises of the police station, before they are released with "stern warnings". Formal complaints or cases under the Indian Penal Code are rarely filed.
Amnesty India, a non government organisation working for human rights, has compiled a long list of such state laws from across the country that allow the police to detain people on mere suspicion. With these laws, the police can keep detainees behind the bars for anywhere between six months to two years depending on the state and the law under which they are held.
Even though the Supreme Court has called these detention statutes “lawless laws”, the latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that just over 3,200 people were being detained in Indian prisons under such laws by the end of December 2014.
In Gujarat, people can be detained without a charge or trial for up to a year to prevent them "from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order", under the Gujarat Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act, 1985. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, where the bulk of prisoners in the study are detained under such laws (1,892 out of 3,237), people can be detained for up to two years under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988 to stop them from “engaging in illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances”.
Urging that these and other similar laws be scrapped, Amnesty has produced an interactive map listing such laws in every state.
"Every government has a duty to bring to justice those suspected of crimes,” Abhirr VP, Rapid Response Campaigner at Amnesty International India was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the organisation. “But every government also has a duty to respect fair trial rights, and the criminal justice system loses credibility when people are detained for no good reason.”
For instance, many lawyers and activists working on the ground in tribal areas affected by Naxalite attacks report that more juveniles are now being detained unlawfully by the police and they are treated like convicts even before the charges against them are framed.
“‘Once a person is arrested, the gradual process of dehumanisation begins,” lawyers from the Jagdalpur Legal Group in Bastar wrote recently. “His or her identity is stripped layer by layer till the individual is reduced to a mere file comprising of numbers – the prisoner number, the case number, the FIR number, the number of years in prison. Like any other government establishment, these files suffer significant wear and tear over the long course of being shelved; many are forgotten and simply gather dust.”
Breaking it down
A cursory glance at the demographics of the detainees as compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau suggests that there is some correlation between the level of education and the number of detainees across the country.
More than 80% of those detained in Indian prisons at the end of last year under these laws had not even received an education beyond class ten. Half of them were illiterate and presumably, unaware of their legal rights.
Similarly, Scheduled Castes make up the bulk of those being detained in Indian prisons under these laws, with more than 1,200 detainees. Other Backward Classes have similar representation.
"At the national level, members of Scheduled Castes and Muslims are disproportionately represented in the population of administrative detainees," Amnesty said. "This is true of undertrial prisoners and also those on death row. This is not a coincidence - these numbers show that disparities based on caste and religion continue to be part of the administration of criminal justice in India."
Further north, detention on equally flimsy grounds is a common experience at police stations in Delhi, where students and activists are detained almost daily for organising protests at the Jantar Mantar site that has officially been designated as a site for demonstrations. While some are let go after six or seven hours, others report facing harassment and are often denied their basic rights inside the premises of the police station, before they are released with "stern warnings". Formal complaints or cases under the Indian Penal Code are rarely filed.
Amnesty India, a non government organisation working for human rights, has compiled a long list of such state laws from across the country that allow the police to detain people on mere suspicion. With these laws, the police can keep detainees behind the bars for anywhere between six months to two years depending on the state and the law under which they are held.
Even though the Supreme Court has called these detention statutes “lawless laws”, the latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that just over 3,200 people were being detained in Indian prisons under such laws by the end of December 2014.
In Gujarat, people can be detained without a charge or trial for up to a year to prevent them "from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order", under the Gujarat Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act, 1985. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, where the bulk of prisoners in the study are detained under such laws (1,892 out of 3,237), people can be detained for up to two years under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988 to stop them from “engaging in illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances”.
Urging that these and other similar laws be scrapped, Amnesty has produced an interactive map listing such laws in every state.
"Every government has a duty to bring to justice those suspected of crimes,” Abhirr VP, Rapid Response Campaigner at Amnesty International India was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the organisation. “But every government also has a duty to respect fair trial rights, and the criminal justice system loses credibility when people are detained for no good reason.”
For instance, many lawyers and activists working on the ground in tribal areas affected by Naxalite attacks report that more juveniles are now being detained unlawfully by the police and they are treated like convicts even before the charges against them are framed.
“‘Once a person is arrested, the gradual process of dehumanisation begins,” lawyers from the Jagdalpur Legal Group in Bastar wrote recently. “His or her identity is stripped layer by layer till the individual is reduced to a mere file comprising of numbers – the prisoner number, the case number, the FIR number, the number of years in prison. Like any other government establishment, these files suffer significant wear and tear over the long course of being shelved; many are forgotten and simply gather dust.”
Breaking it down
A cursory glance at the demographics of the detainees as compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau suggests that there is some correlation between the level of education and the number of detainees across the country.
More than 80% of those detained in Indian prisons at the end of last year under these laws had not even received an education beyond class ten. Half of them were illiterate and presumably, unaware of their legal rights.
Similarly, Scheduled Castes make up the bulk of those being detained in Indian prisons under these laws, with more than 1,200 detainees. Other Backward Classes have similar representation.
"At the national level, members of Scheduled Castes and Muslims are disproportionately represented in the population of administrative detainees," Amnesty said. "This is true of undertrial prisoners and also those on death row. This is not a coincidence - these numbers show that disparities based on caste and religion continue to be part of the administration of criminal justice in India."
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!