The Jharkhand High Court expressed serious concern over what it described as “systemic non-compliance” in mandatory judicial inquiries into custodial deaths in the state and ordered fresh judicial probes in 262 cases where inquiries had been conducted by Executive Magistrates instead of Judicial Magistrates.
Disposing of a public interest litigation, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Rajesh Shankar held that inquiries conducted by Executive Magistrates could not substitute the mandatory judicial inquiries required under Section 176(1-A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Section 196(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
The PIL was filed by Md Mumtaz Ansari seeking enforcement of mandatory judicial inquiries in cases involving custodial deaths, disappearances and custodial rape.
According to figures placed before the court by the state government, Jharkhand recorded 427 custodial deaths between 2018 and 2026. Of these, 262 inquiries were conducted by Executive Magistrates while 225 were conducted by Judicial Magistrates.
Calling the figures “deeply distressing and shocking”, the bench observed that the authorities had shown “utter disregard for legal procedures” despite the law having removed the Executive’s role in such inquiries nearly two decades ago.
The court held that the right to life under Article 21 extends equally to persons in custody and said any departure from the mandatory judicial inquiry process amounted to a violation of constitutional safeguards.
“The law does not provide the State with the luxury of choice, nor does it allow the Executive to ‘pick and choose’ its preferred forum for an inquiry into its own alleged transgressions,” the bench observed.
The court directed the Principal Secretary of the Home, Prison and Disaster Management Department to prepare a district-wise list of all custodial death cases since 2018 in which inquiries were conducted by Executive Magistrates within two months.
It further directed Principal District and Sessions Judges across the state to nominate Judicial Magistrates within 15 days for conducting de novo inquiries in such cases, preferably within six months.
The bench also ordered the Chief Secretary and the Home Department to issue a circular within 30 days clarifying that only Judicial Magistrates have jurisdiction to conduct custodial death inquiries and that any future deviation would amount to a violation of statutory law and service conduct rules.
In addition, the court directed the Jharkhand Judicial Academy to prepare a standard operating procedure and model format for custodial death inquiry reports in line with NHRC guidelines and judicial precedents.
Observing that executive inquiries could not replace independent judicial scrutiny, the court said permitting such a practice would amount to allowing the Executive “to remain a judge in its own cause”.