About the basic human rights of an accused (when arrested by Indian police), human rights of women under the Vienna Declaration, ensured social, economical, political, justice/rights which are as follows:

Tips about Arrest, Detention and Interrogation

1997 (1) SCC 416

D. K. Basu, Petitioner; V. State Of W.B. , Respondent. Ashok K. Johri, Petitioner; V. State Of YOU.P. , Respondent.

DATE: 18-12-1996

CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

Arts. 21, 22 & 32 -- Custodial violence

Deaths in police lockups and custody - Custodial torture are a naked violation of human dignity and degradation which destroys, to a very large extent, the individual personality - Custodial death is perhaps one of the worst crimes in a civilized society governed by the rule of law - The rights inherent in arts. 21 & 22 (1) of the Constitution require to be jealously and scrupulously protected - Check of the abuse of police power possible by transparency of action and accountability - In addition to the statutory and constitutional requirement, mandatory directions issued by Supreme Court - To be followed strictly - Failure to comply with these requirement shall render official concerned liable for departmental enquiry and also render them liable to be punished for contempt of Court.

HEADNOTE:

Constitution of India - Arts. 21, 22 & 32 - Custodial violence Deaths in police lockups and custody - Custodial torture is a naked violation of human dignity and degradation which destroys, to a very large extent, the individual personality - Custodial death is perhaps one of the worst crimes in a civilized society governed by the rule of law - The rights inherent in arts. 21 & 22(1) of the Constitution require to be jealously and scrupulously protected - Check of the abuse of police power possible by transparency of action and accountability - In addition to the statutory and constitutional requirement, mandatory directions issued by Supreme Court - To be followed strictly - Failure to comply with these requirement shall render official concerned liable for departmental enquiry and also render them liable to be punished for contempt of Court Held

  No violation of any one of the human rights has been the subject of so many Conventions and Declarations as "torture" - All aiming at total banning of it in all forms, but in spite of the commitments made to eliminate torture, the fact remains that torture is more widespread now than ever before. "Custodial torture" is a naked violation of human dignity and degradation which destroys, to a very large extent, the individual personality. It is a calculated assault on human dignity and whenever human dignity is wounded, civilization takes a step backward - Flag of humanity must on each such occasion fly half-mast. Custodial death is perhaps one of the worst crimes in a civilized society governed by the rule of law. The rights inherent in arts. 21 & 22

(1) of the Constitution require to be jealously and scrupulously protected. Abuse of police power can be stopped by Transparency of action and accountability perhaps is two possible safeguards which this Court must insist upon. Attention is also required to be paid to properly develop work culture, training and orientation of the police force consistent with basic human values. Training methodology of the police needs restructuring. The force needs to be infused with basic human values and made sensitive to the constitutional ethos. Efforts must be made to change the attitude and approach of the police personnel handling investigations so that they do not sacrifice basic human values during interrogation and do not resort to questionable forms of interrogation. With a view to bring in transparency, the presence of the counsel of the arrestee at some point of time during the interrogation may deter the police from using third-degree methods during interrogation. Following requirements to be followed in all cases of arrest or detention till legal provisions are made in that behalf as preventive measures:

(1) the police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation of the arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their designations. The particulars of all such police personnel who handle interrogation of the arrestee must be recorded in a register.

(2) That the police officer carrying out the arrest of the arrestee shall prepare a memo of arrest at the time of arrest and such memo shall be attested by at least one witness, who may either be a member of the family of the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality from where the arrest is made. It shall also be countersigned by the arrestee and shall contain the time and date of arrest.

(3) A person who has been arrested or detained and is being held in custody in a police station or interrogation centre or other lock-up, shall be entitled to have one friend or relative or other person known to him or having interest in his welfare being informed, as soon as practicable, that he has been arrested and is being detained at the particular place, unless the attesting witness of the memo of arrest is himself such a friend or a relative of the arrestee.

(4) The time, place of arrest and venue of custody of an arrestee must be notified by the police where the next friend or relative of the arrestee lives outside the district or town through the Legal Aid Organization in the District and the police station of the area concerned telegraphically within a period of 8 to 12 hours after the arrest.

(5) The person arrested must be made aware of this right to have someone informed of his arrest or detention as soon as he is put under arrest or is detained.

(6) An entry must be made in the diary at the place of detention regarding the arrest of the person which shall also disclose the name of the next friend of the person who has been informed of the arrest and the names and particulars of the police officials in whose custody the arrestee is.

(7) The arrestee should, where he so requests, be also examined at the time of his arrest and major and minor injuries, if any present on his/her body, must be recorded at that time. The "Inspection Memo" must be signed both by the arrestee and the police officer affecting the arrest and its copy provided to the arrestee.

(8) The arrestee should be subjected to medical examination by a trained doctor every 48 hours during his detention in custody by a doctor on the panel of approved doctors appointed by Director, Health Services of the State or Union Territory concerned. Director, Health Services should prepare such a panel for all districts as well.

(9) Copies of all the documents including the memo of arrest, referred to above, should be sent to the Illegal Magistrate for his record.

(10) The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not throughout the interrogation.

(11) A police control room should be provided at all district and State headquarters, where information regarding the arrest and the place of custody of the arrestee shall be communicated by the officer causing the arrest, within 12 hours of effecting the arrest and at the police control room it should be displayed on conspicuous notice board. Failure to comply with the requirements hereinabove mentioned shall apart from rendering the official concerned liable for departmental action, also render him liable to be punished for contempt of Court and the proceedings for contempt of Court may be instituted in any High Court of the country, having territorial jurisdiction over the matter. The requirements, referred to above flow from art. 21 & 22(1) of the Constitution and need to be strictly followed. These would apply with equal force to the other governmental agencies also to which a reference has been made earlier. These requirements are in addition to the constitutional and statutory safeguards and do not detract from various other directions given by the Courts from time to time in connection with the safeguarding of the rights and dignity of the arrestee. The requirements mentioned above shall be forwarded to the Director General of Police and the Home Secretary of every State/Union Territory and it shall be their obligation of circulate the same to every police station under their charge and get the same notified at every police station at a conspicuous place. It would also be useful and serve larger interest to broadcast the requirement on All India Radio besides being shown on the National Network of Doordarshan or any by publishing and distributing pamphlets in the local language containing these requirements for information of the general public. Creating awareness about the rights of the arrestee would in our opinion be a step in the right direction to combat the evil of custodial crime and being in transparency and accountability. It is hoped that these requirements would help to curb, if not totally eliminate, the use of questionable methods during interrogation and investigation leading to custodial commission of crimes. 

Conclusion

In addition to the statutory and constitutional requirement, mandatory directions issued by Supreme Court. To be followed & strictly failure to comply with these requirement shall render official concerned liable for departmental enquiry and also render them liable to be punished for contempt of Court.

The Vienna Declaration which ensures social, economical, political, justice & Human rights of women at large. The equal status and human rights of women:

1. The world conference urges the full and equal enjoyment by women of all human rights and this is a priority to governments and for United Nations. The world conference also underlines the importance of the integration and full participation of women as both agents and beneficiaries in the development process, and reiterates the objectives established on global action for women towards sustainable and equitable development set forth in the Rio declaration, chapter 24, Agenda 21.

2. The equal status of women and the human rights of women should be integrated into the mainstream of United Nations system wide activity.

These issues should be regularly and systematically addressed throughout relevant United Nations Organs and mechanisms. In particular steps should be taken to increase co-operation and promote further integration of objectives and goals between the commission on the status of women, the commission on human rights, the committee for the eliminations of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW), UNIFEM, The United Nations Development program (UNDP) and other United Nations agencies. In this context, co-operation and co -ordination should be strengthened between the centre for human rights and the division for the advancement of women.

3 In particular the world conference stresses the importance of working towards

the elimination of violence against women in public and private life, the elimination of all forms of Sexual harassment, exploitation and trafficking in women, the elimination of gender bias in the administration of justice and the eradication of any conflicts which may arise between the rights of women and the harmful effects of certain traditional or customary practices, cultural prejudices and religious extremism. The World Conference call upon the General Assembly to adopt the draft declaration on Violence against women and urges states to combat violence against women in accordance with its provisions. Violations of the human rights of women in situations of armed conflict are the violations of the fundamental principles of International human rights and humanitarian law. All violations of this kind including in particular murder, systematic rape, sexual slavery and forced pregnancy, require a particularly effective response.