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INDIA: Illegal detention of a commoner is shrouded in allegations of corruption and the fabrication of case records

November 8, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

8 November 2006
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UA-364-2006: INDIA: Illegal detention of a commoner is shrouded in allegations of corruption and the fabrication of case records

INDIA: Illegal detention; corruption; fabrication of charges; failure of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the illegal detention of 53 year-old Mr. Ashok Kumar Basu Roy at Dum-Dum police station, Kolkata, West Bengal, India on 20 September 2006.  According to the information received from its loca partner MASUM in West Bengal, the victim was forcefully discharged from a hospital where he was admitted to receive treatment and that later he was detained in custody beyond the permitted period, produced before a magistrate with alleged fabricated charges and currently under detention, now by the order of the magistrate. The victim also alleges that he was forced to pay bribes at the detention centre. 

CASE DETAILS:

On 20 September 2006, Ashok Basu Roy was arrested from the B. S. Medical Centre where he was admitted to receive treatment for injuries that he sustained from an assault. Roy was allegedly assaulted by Mr. Kamal Ahmed on the same day when he demanded repayment of a loan. It is alleged that Ahmed instead of repaying the money assaulted Roy along with some local hooligans. Roy had to run for his life and later got himself admitted in the hospital to treat the injuries he sustained in the assault.

It is alleged that Ahmed influenced the local elected member to the state legislative assembly who in turn moblised the local police to take Roy into custody. Roy was forcefully discharged from the hospital and taken to the Dum Dum police station. There he was detained till 22 September and later produced before the local magistrate. It is alleged that when Roy was produced before the magistrate the police produced a charge-sheet dated 22 September 2006 in which it was alleged that Roy was suspected of attempting to rape Ahmed’s minor daughter. Surprisingly the complaint allegedly lodged by Ahmed is dated 22 September 2006, for which even according to police records the date of arrest was a day earlier. This means the police arrested Roy even before a complaint was lodged against him at the police station. It is also alleged that the arrest memo produced in the court mentions that Roy was arrested from his house.

Even though this factual contradiction was apparent from the records of the case produced before the local magistrate and though Roy pleaded innocence he was remanded to police custody till 5 October 2006 by the magistrate. His bail application was also rejected by the magistrate on 10 October 2006. Roy was later remanded to Dum Dum Central Jail.

At the Dum Dum Central Jail Roy was asked to pay the prison officials for everything, including to be treated as a human being. It is alleged that the prison officers who forced Roy to pay Rs. 500 [USD 11], demanded more money, for which Roy fearing for his life wrote to his wife asking her to make arrangements for payment to the jail officers.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

According to the procedural laws in India, a person who is under treatment in a hospital must not be forcefully discharged from the hospital and taken into police custody without the permission of the doctor treating the person. The Criminal Procedure Code of India also requires that a person arrested must be produced in a court within 24 hours of arrest. As evident from this incident the police fabricates case records to appear in records that the date, time and place of arrest does not violate the procedural mandates as required in law. However, a challenge on these issues is practically impossible since the courts in India are also not sensitive to these issues. Even if such an issue is brought to the notice of the court the court takes years to decide upon these issues owing to the delay in court procedures in India.

Issues like delays in courts, fallen and corrupt prosecution system and a police which believes in custodial torture as the only way to investigate a crime has literally reduced the criminal justice dispensation system in India into a waste. This has also resulted in the ordinary people loosing faith in the system.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
The AHRC urge you to pressure the government of India, the state government of West Bengal in particular, to order an impartial investigation into this case. We also urge you to write to the authorities named below urging the Government of India to withdraw the reservations it has placed while ratifying international conventions and also to expedite the process of ratifying the Convention against Torture (CAT) and not to place any reservation upon ratification.

To support this appeal, please click:

Sample letter:

Dear __________,

INDIA: A person illegally detained in prison by allegedly fabricated charges and the prison officials collecting bribe

Name of the victim: Mr. Ashok Kumar Basu Roy, aged 53 years, son of late Santhosh Kumar Basu Roy, residing at 2 Motilal Colony, Dum Dum, Kolkata, West Bengal
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Inspector in Charge, Dum Dum police station
2. The Superintendent, Dum Dum Central Jail, North 24 Parganas, Kolkata, West Bengal
Place of incident: Dum Dum police station and Dum Dum Central Jail
Date of incident: From 20 September

I am writing to you to bring to your attention the case of Mr. Roy, the victim named above. I am informed that Roy was forcefully discharged from a hospital where he was receiving treatment and detained at the Dum Dum police lock up for more than 24 hours and later produced at the local magistrate court with fabricated charges. I am informed that the arrest and fabrication of charges was instigated by a local MLA . When Roy was produced in court, the records relating to his arrest produced in the court showed discrepancy regarding the manner of arrest. In fact Roy was arrested on 20 September from the B. S. Medical Centre, and detained in Dum Dum police station lock up. However the police records showed that Roy was arrested from his house and that too on 21 September ironically on a complaint filed at the police station the next day. The difference in dates itself must have suggested to the magistrate that the police has fabricated the case and tampered with the actual records. However, it is disheartening to know that the magistrate has not taken any action in this regard, but remanded Roy to the custody of the same police.

I am also informed that a bail application filed by Roy was rejected and he was later remanded to judicial custody to the Dum Dum Central Jail, where he was asked to pay Rs. 500 as bribe to the jail authorities. I am informed that the jail authorities have now asked for more money, which if Roy did not pay, he would be inhumanly treated inside the prison. I am informed that Roy is still in prison.

While this case depicts the manner in which the police fabricate case records it is also an example of how an ignorant magistrate in fact facilitates the further failure of the criminal justice system in India. It is also surprising to note in this case that in fact the police who arrested Roy on a fabricated case with a post dated complaint, has not taken any action against those who assaulted Roy.

I therefore call upon you to initiate immediate action into this case and order an impartial inquiry into this case. I request you to investigate the allegation regarding the practice of corruption at the Dum Dum Central Jail. I am concerned about Roy’s physical condition which I am afraid will further deteriorate if he is further detained in prison.

Yours sincerely,


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
President of India
Rashtrapati Bhawan,
New Delhi
INDIA
Fax: 91 11 23017290
Email: pressecy@alpha.nic.in

2. Mr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister's Office
Room number 152, South Block
New Delhi
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 23016857
Email: pmosb@pmo.nic.in

3. Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
Chief Minister and Minister in Charge of Home (Police) Department
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Buildings, Kolkata - 700001
West Bengal
INDIA
Tel: +91 33 2214 5555 (O) / 2280 0631 (R)
Fax: +91 33 2214 5480

4. Mr. Subhash Awasthi
Director General of Police
Government of West Bengal
Writers Buildings
Kolkata-1
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: +91 33 2214 4498 / 2214 5486
Email: padgp@wbpolice.gov.in 

5. Home Secretary
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Buildings
Kolkata - 700001
West Bengal
INDIA
Tel: +91 33 2214 5656
Fax: +91 33 2214 3001
Email: sechome@wb.gov.in

6. The Chief Secretary
Government of West Bengal
Writers' Buildings, Kolkata - 700001
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: +91 33 22144328

7. Mr. Banshi Dhar Sharma, IPS
Inspector General of Jail Department
West Bengal
Writers' Building
Block-E, Top Floor
Kolkata - 700 001, West Bengal
INDIA
Fax : + 91 33 2214-5504
Email : igcswb@vsnl.net

8. Mr. T.K. Barman, IAS
Principal Secretary
Jail Department
Writers Buildings, Kolkata
West Bengal
INDIA
Fax: + 91 33 22145504
Email: secjail@wb.gov.in

9. Mr. Parveen Kumar
Superintendent of Police
North 24 Parganas, Barasat,
West Bengal
INDIA


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)


Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-364-2006
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.