SC notice to Centre, NHRC on Abhishek Singhvi’s custodial violence plea

A bench of Justices U U Lalit and Vineet Saran issued the notice in the application filed by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi. Singhvi has sought directions “on account of recent reported cases of custodial deaths and transgressions by the police”. (File)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Centre and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on a plea seeking measures to prevent custodial violence.

A bench of Justices U U Lalit and Vineet Saran issued the notice in the application filed by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi. Singhvi has sought directions “on account of recent reported cases of custodial deaths and transgressions by the police”.

His plea said the government must be asked to ratify the 1987 UN Convention against Torture and incorporate its provisions into Indian law.

He also sought directions to ensure that all police stations and prisons have CCTV recordings, and to ask the state to explore the possibility of providing dashboard/personnel cameras for police officers while making an arrest.