The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged custodial torture of a police constable at the Joint Interrogation Centre in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara in February 2023.
A bench of Justices Vikaram Nath and Sandeep Mehta also ordered that the police officers responsible should be arrested within a month.
The court also ordered the payment of Rs 50 lakh in compensation to the police constable, Khursheed Ahmed Chauhan. It also quashed an attempt-to-suicide case registered against Chauhan under Indian Penal Code section 309.
Chauhan moved the Supreme Court after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court refused to quash the First Information Report (FIR) in the attempt-to-suicide case. He alleged that he was subjected to abject torture during illegal detention from February 20 to 26, 2023, at the interrogation centre.
Allowing his appeal, the Supreme Court said that permitting the criminal proceedings to continue would be a travesty of justice.
Directing a CBI inquiry into the allegations of torture, the Supreme Court also called for an investigation into “systemic issues” prevailing at the interrogation centre in Kupwara to assess whether structural or institutional failings enabled a climate of impunity that led to the alleged abuse.
The bench directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to complete the investigation within three months from the date of the registration of an FIR.
