INDIA: A detainee waiting for trial for 24 years develops mental illness 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a person named Mr. Satya Pal has been detained in Jail for about 24 years as an Under Trial Prisoner (UTP) since he was arrested from his village of Hayatpur in Hooghly, West Bengal, India on 24 July 1979. He was arrested on the allegation of being involved in a murder case. Till now Mr. Satya Pal is detained at the Dum Dum Central Jail after he was transferred from the Hooghly District Jail, where he was detained for the first15 months. It was reported that for the last 10 to 12 years, he has not been produced in court, though he is an UTP. More seriously, even though Mr. Satya Pal is suffering from a mental disease, the jail authorities and judiciary have not taken any action to provide proper medical attention to him, which is ensured by the Mental Health Act of 1987 of India.

Under any condition, pre-trial detention of a person for such a long time can be clearly defined as torture and it is a blatant violation of the Criminal Procedure Code of India and the mandates of the ICCPR for which India is a signatory. Your urgent action is required to pressure the local authorities to correct this matter immediately. Especially, we suggests you to write a letter to the Chief Justice of India to intervene into this case.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

On 24 July 1979, Mr. Satya Pal was arrested on suspicion of involving a murder case from his village of Hayatpur in Khanakul police station, Hooghly District, West Bengal, India (Case no.16 of 1979 under section 302 of IPC at the Khanakul Police Station). He was produced before the court and Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate remanded him to Hooghly District Jail in 1979. 15 month later, Mr. Satya Pal was transferred from the Hooghly District Jail to the Dum Dum Central Jail. From that date till now Mr. Satya Pal is still detained in the Dum Dum Central Jail waiting for trial. In the meantime, his case was transferred to Sessions Court of Hooghly District (Sessions Trial no. 134/1980).

It was reported that for the last 10 to 12 years, he has not been produced in court, though he is an Under Trial Prisoner (UTP). However, the Criminal Procedure Code of India states that every person who is detained in prison during the pre-trial should be produced before the magistrate every 14 days for extension of remand. It is for the magistrate to look into whether the further detention of the person is required to meet the ends of justice or whether such detention is reasonable. However, in the case of Mr. Satya Pal, there is a clear violation of this provision of law.

In addition, Mr. Satya Pal is reported of being mentally ill. After 24 years of imprisonment behind the bar, he became insane, but the doctors till now could not come to a conclusion that whether he had been already mentally disturbed when he had been arrested or not. Circumstantial evidence suggests that Mr. Satya Pal might be mentally ill at the point of his arrest. No matter whether Mr. Satya Pal was mentally ill before or after the arrest, the fact that he was mentally ill and should be transferred to a mental asylum in accordance by law. The Mental Health Act of 1987 of India provides for protection of mentally ill people while they are under custody whether it is pre-trial or after conviction. It also clearly violates the “Principles for the protection of persons with mental illness and the improvement of mental health care” adopted by General Assembly resolution 46/119 of 17 December 1991.

Moreover the Criminal Procedure Code also provides that such persons who are ill should be given adequate treatment while they are in custody. Mental illness being such that which requires special treatment should not be treated with the local prison doctor who is appointed only to attend to immediate medical requirement. Therefore, the victim should be admitted at the mental asylum. However, these actions never were taken by the jail authorities or by the judiciary who are responsible. Rather, there were a dozen of judges who came and transferred as the Sessions’s judge at Hooghly in between 1980 and 2004, but no one has inquired what was the present situation of Mr. Satya Pal and whether he needed a better treatment by expert doctors or not. Definitely, the judges in charge at the Hooghly Court should have been informed about this case even if the case was long pending record (LPR).

AHRC is deeply concerned by the current situation of Mr. Satya Pal. Under any condition, pre-trial detention of a person for such a long period amounts to torture and a blatant violation of the mandates of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) for which India is a signatory.

Article 9(3) of ICCPR clearly states that anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release. Article 9(4) of ICCPR also mentions, “Anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his detention and order his release if the detention is not lawful.” Article 9(5) of ICCPR further mentions that anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation.

In light of the above, AHRC urges the government of India to transfer Mr. Satya Pal to a mental asylum and provide proper medical treatment. AHRC also urges the government of India to speed up the trial of Mr. Satya Pal’s case and provide compensation to him for his wrongful detention in Jail. Mr. Satya Pal’s case proves our demand again why the government of India must take immediate steps to ratify the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) without delay.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
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