The recent killings of under-trial
prisoners in Bhopal, after they had _ egedly escaped from the Central Jail and killed an
on-duty officer en the process, raises many important
questions for the rule of law and aiminal justice system in India.
key Concerns
The killing of any person in an encounter
can never be considered to be part of the normal
criminal justice process of dispensing justice.
§ It may only
be justified in a case where the armed forces are compelled
to fire in self-defence, and even then, it cannot be considered
an outcome of the justice system.
· Prisoners
killed in Bhopal encounters were undertrials and not
convicts. In such a situation, to Jebel them "terrorists" is a mischaracterization
and is blatantly unfair.
· All accused under criminal law are
considered innocent until proven guilty, and it is clear that
prisoners killed in Bhopal encounter were, at the time of their deaths, not
proven so.
· India has seen a long line of cases where
encounters have been investigated and proved to be false and
staged.
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