As India celebrates Constitution Day, it is imperative to reflect on the ideals and principles of this foundational text that commits to the protection, upliftment, and progress of its people. Article 21 is one of the most important articles in our Constitution, which strives to protect the life and liberty of its citizens. Read along with Articles 20 and 22, which provide safeguards in cases of arrest and detention, it comprehensively aims to uphold human rights as well as the spirit of the legal principle of presumption of innocence.
However, despite the existence of constitutional safeguards, there has been rampant police brutality leading to incidents of custodial violence and deaths.
Data shows that a minimum of five custodial deaths happen in India each day. In 2024 alone, more than 2,000 cases of custodial deaths were reported. According to a survey by Lokniti CDS and Common Cause, 63 per cent of officers justified violence against suspects in serious crimes, and 30 per cent supported third-degree methods even for theft. Institutional endorsement is evident, with 42 per cent of officers supporting torture in terror cases and 25 per cent justifying mob justice in cases of sexual abuse of children. Despite the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in D. K. Basu v. State of West Bengal on the rights during arrest and detention, along with constitutional guarantees under Articles 20 and 22, in many cases, it was found that torture by the police occurred before official arrest. This widespread prevalence of police brutality questions the ethical standards on which this institution is built; one where duty creates a hollow pride comprising insensitive high-handedness and unchecked state power.
While the media often serves as a platform to shed light on custodial deaths as a violation of human rights, media trials or excessive publicity of incidents often cause inversion of the constitutional principle of "innocent until proven guilty," leading to biases in arrests, detentions, and investigations, along with a higher chance of high-handedness by the police in such cases. Politicisation of arrests and detentions is another cause of biased investigations and misuse of power under political patronage. In order to suppress dissent and elicit confessions serving politically motivated outcomes, the police are given an unrestricted power of torture, often leading to deaths. NCRB data shows that in the past 20 years, despite 1,888 reported cases of custodial deaths, only 26 policemen have been convicted so far. That is, a 1.4 per cent conviction rate. Political interference, therefore, not only supports this banal evil but also protects these perpetrators of violence from any public accountability or judicial probes.
The Constitution is not merely a legal text but a living promise of equality and protection for all citizens, especially the most vulnerable. Around 70 per cent of prisoners in India are undertrials, with a majority being people from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This brings us to another relevant argument on systemic custodial violence, particularly targeted at marginalised sections based on caste discrimination. Often, policemen from dominant castes have used custodial violence as a garb to inflict caste discrimination and maintain the status quo of hegemonic caste bias in Indian society. Power is therefore misused to prevent transgressions from established caste hierarchy and norms – thus becoming 'de facto adjudicators of law.'
Custodial deaths also shed light on the status of the police system and the need for reforms. It highlights the need for inclusive and sensitivity training in the police forces, with the highest standards of ethical and moral conduct, in order to bring existing victims to justice and not create more victims using state brutality. There is also a need to reduce the burden of police officers, especially those in lower ranks, to reduce workload pressure and frustration, which can often lead to displacement of this anger on those behind bars—whether guilty or not. Transparency in investigations, ethical oversight, and a robust protection mechanism until the trial takes place is the need of the hour. Without such structural and attitudinal reforms, the legal system will continue to produce victims of violence not just by criminals but by the state itself.
True celebration of the highest law, that is our Constitution, is reflecting on the established institutions and the need to reform them in order to improve public trust and accountability. The pursuit of justice cannot come at the cost of eroding the very rights that the Constitution has laid down to protect the citizens. The goal must be to erode the fear of society with respect to the image of police or courts in India. We must commit to evaluate current systems, acknowledge the failings, and reshape existing policies and mechanisms to build a just society. As the country marks Constitution Day, it is essential to recognise that safeguarding public faith in the police is not just a procedural necessity but a constitutional imperative. This is essential not only to build public trust in the legal system but also ensures effective justice delivery, one where the guilty are punished by the law and the victims are protected under law.
Dr Fauzia Khan is a Rajya Sabha MP and former minister of state for General Administration Department, education and health, Maharashtra.
