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

GS II : Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation