Extra Judicial Killings

• Context (TH): A Gangster wanted in 25 criminal cases was killed in a police encounter by Punjab Police.

What are extra judicial killings?

• Extra judicial killings, also known as encounter executions, are deliberate and targeted killings of an individual by state or non-state actors without due process of law.
• It is usually done to enforce ‘instant justice’/‘vigilante justice’ by circumventing the elaborate procedure established through the criminal justice system.

Recent incidents of extra judicial killings

• Hyderabad Rape and Murder Case (2019): Four accused in the gang rape and murder of a veterinarian were killed by Telangana police during a purported escape attempt during a crime scene reconstruction.
• Vikas Dubey Encounter (2020): Vikas Dubey, a wanted gangster, was killed by Uttar Pradesh police after allegedly attempting to flee following a car accident.
• Hathras Case (2020): Uttar Pradesh police faced criticism for their handling of protests following the gang rape and murder of a Dalit woman, with allegations of information suppression.
• Kanpur Encounter (2020): During an operation in Kanpur against criminals, eight police personnel were killed, leading to an encounter where Vikas Dubey’s associates were also killed.
• Maoist Encounter in Chhattisgarh (2021): Encounters between security forces and Maoist insurgents in Bijapur resulted in casualties on both sides.
• Encounter in Manipur (2022): Manipur saw encounters involving security forces targeting suspected militants, raising allegations of extrajudicial killings and calling for impartial investigations.

Legal provisions related to extra judicial killings in India

• Indian Penal Code provides no mention of encounters or extra-judicial killings.
• However, there are enabling provisions for extra-judicial killings in various laws in India:
  1. Section 106 of IPC: Right of private defence against deadly assault when there is risk of harm to innocent person.
  2. Section-46 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC): It authorizes police to use force, extending up to the cause of death, as may be necessary to arrest the person accused of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life.
  3. Section 4 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958: It authorises every commissioned, non-commissioned or warrant officer to fire or use force, even to the causing of death of any person who the officer believes to be acting in contravention of any law in a disturbed area and considers necessary for the maintenance of public order.

Why do people favour extra judicial killings?

• Loss of faith in the criminal justice system due to pendency of cases. For eg, Nirbhaya case.
• Increasing clout of criminals with money and political connections.
• ‘Doctrine of proportionality’ justifying encounter as rightful punishment for misdeed by the accused.
• Act as deterrence for heinous crimes in the society.
• Law of Necessity: ‘Id Quod Alias Non Est Licitum Facit’ meaning that which is otherwise not lawful becomes lawful if necessity demands.

Ethical issues involved in extra judicial killings

• Violation of human rights: It impinges on the Right to Life enshrined under Art 21 of the IC.
• Against the right to legal form of procedural justice, and equality before the law.
• Virtue Ethics: Justice, its cardinal virtue is compromised given that the suspect is denied the basic right to present against claims made.
• Utilitarianism: Harm done may be disproportionate to the crime committed by the accused.
• Against professional ethics of police.
• Against reformative principle which argues that every individual is subject to reform.  
• Against deontology which prescribes that means must justify the end.

Way Forward

• Overhauling the criminal justice system to maintain credibility among the public.
• Timely investigation of encounter killings and timely punishment to act as deterrence in the future.
• Putting in place standard operating procedure to be followed by Police to deal with dreaded criminals.
• Implementing the directions of SC spelt out in Prakash Singh vs Union of India case.

SC Rulings on extra judicial killings

• D.K. Basu vs. State of West Bengal (1996): Extra-judicial killings violate the dignity of human being.
• Prakash Kadam vs. Ramprasad Vishwanath Gupta (2011): It said that if the verdict in an extrajudicial execution went against the policemen on trial, they must be given the death sentence.
• Om Prakash and Ors. vs. State of Jharkhand (2012): SC held extra-judicial killings are not legal under the criminal justice administration system of India and equated them to ‘state-sponsored terrorism’.
• PUCL vs. the State of Maharashtra (2014): SC laid down standard procedure to be followed for independent investigation in cases of police encounters.