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New Delhi : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India, has asked the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh to intimate it about any custodial death within 24 hours and the encounter death within 48 hours of such incident as per its guidelines to all States and Union Territories with a view to protecting and promoting human rights.
In a letter dated June 30, 2020, sent to the Chief Secretary of Union Territory of J&K and Commissioner Secretary, Union Territory of Ladakh, NHRC Secretary General Jaideep Govind has requested them to pass suitable instructions to the concerned for compliance of all instructions issued by the Commission to send all requisite reports including post-mortem, videography, and magisterial enquiry report etc. in all custodial deaths and encounter deaths.
He has said that the erstwhile State of J&K was not under statutory obligation to follow the mandate of the Commission to send intimations in such cases of deaths in custody or encounter, in view of protection given in respect of subjects mentioned in List II of VII Schedule of the Constitution (State subjects) in the PHR Act. But after Amendment of PHR Act in 2019, there is no prohibition of exercising jurisdiction by the Commission like in all other States and UTs, according to an NHRC release. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the UT of J&K to follow the NHRC guidelines in case of custodial and encounter deaths, happened within the territory of UT of J&K.