The National Human Rights Commission on Thursday said it had asked the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to inform it of any custodial death within 24 hours, and any encounter death within 48 hours, a requirement for all States and Union Territories. The erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir had been exempted from this rule.
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In a statement, the NHRC said its Secretary General Jaideep Govind had written to the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary and Ladakh Commissioner Secretary on Tuesday requesting them to issue suitable orders. The Union Territories were asked to send all post-mortem reports, videography, magisterial enquiry reports etc. to the NHRC in all cases of custodial and encounter deaths.
Mr. Govind said the State of Jammu and Kashmir, whose special status was withdrawn and split into two Union Territories in August 2019, was “not under statutory obligation to follow the mandate of the commission by sending intimations.” But after the amendment of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, last year, “there is no prohibition of exercising jurisdiction by the commission like in all other States and Union Territories,” the statement said.
