The “tough” peer review India faced at the United Nations Human Rights Council became the point of discussion in the Supreme Court on Friday with the Chief Justice of India cautioning the government against delay in enacting human rights laws, especially the long-pending anti-torture statute, in national interest.
A day after other countries questioned India on the AFSPA, marital rape laws and custodial torture, a Bench led by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar said delay in enacting laws to protect citizens against torture and other human rights violations might have “international ramifications.”
‘National interest’
“Issues like these have international ramifications. See the news about yesterday’s debate. You have to be careful about how you proceed about it. This is in national interest,” the Chief Justice addressed Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar.
The Bench, also comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, was hearing a writ petition filed by former Union Law Minister Ashwini Kumar to make good India’s commitment to enact a stand-alone anti-torture law.
“It is a question of legislation. If something has to happen, it will happen only through Parliament,” the SG responded to the court.
Ready to wait
The court, however, said that it would wait till the end of the monsoon session of Parliament to see whether any new law would be enacted in the place of the lapsed Prevention of Torture Bill of 2010.
