LEGAL ASPECTS OF CUSTODIAL VIOLENCE IN INDIA: CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATES, JUDICIAL RESPONSES, AND THE NEED FOR STRUCTURAL REFORM

Custodial violence is still one of the gravest problems to the constitutional rule and human rights safeguarding in India. Even in the presence of constitutional protections, statutory processes, and judicial activism, cases of torture, brutality, and in-custodial killings are happening on a disturbing frequency. The paper is a doctrinal and analytical exploration on the legal provisions of custodial violence in India with reference to constitutions, statutory legislation in the new criminal law and the judicial response. It critically evaluates historic Supreme and High Court rulings to examine the best of judicial rules and compensation jurisprudence and State liability in dealing with custodial abuse. Institutional and practical challenges that include the police impunity, the lack of effective mechanisms of oversight, the lack of evidentiary obstacles, the delay associated with prosecutions, the limited enforcement capabilities of human rights institutions are also assessed in the study with an analytical reading of NCRB data. Moreover, the paper places the Indian structure in the global human rights law and comparative practices to identify normative and structural deficiencies especially the absence of criminalisation of torture and ratification of the UN Convention against Torture in India. This paper states that custodial violence is a structural issue that needs thorough legislation reform, institutional autonomy, and efficient methods of accountability. It ends with the reform-focused recommendations that would help to enhance deterrence, protect human dignity, and reinstate the trust that people have in the criminal justice system.