India may be finding it tough to secure extraditions because there is a fear within the international community that the accused persons would be subject to torture in India.
SC on Torture
- A matter of both Article 21 (fundamental right to life and dignity) and of international reputation that the government must consider a comprehensive law to define and punish torture as an instrument of human degradation by state authorities.
- India, which had signed the UN Convention against torture way back in 1997, had still not ratified it.
- The Convention defines torture as a criminal offence.
- No steps had been taken to implement the Prevention of Torture Bill 2010 even six years
- 90% of the States had no objection for a special law on torture and the NHRC itself had strongly supported the need for such a law.
Why it needed ?
- Setback suffered by the CBI in its efforts to get Kim Davy a Danish citizen and prime accused in the Purulia arms drop case of 1995 extradited from Denmark.
- A Danish court had rejected the plea on the ground that he would risk torture or other inhuman treatment.
- The Indian Penal Code did not specifically and comprehensively address the various aspects of custodial torture
Source : The Hindu
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