New Delhi: Expressing concern over rising cases of custodial torture and police atrocities in the country, Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana on Sunday said that despite constitutional declarations and guarantees, the threat to human rights and bodily integrity in police stations is the highest. .
“The threat to human rights and bodily integrity is greatest at the police station. Custodial torture and other police atrocities are problems that still pervade our society,” ANI quoted the Chief Justice of India as saying.
Reading: After CJI NV Ramana’s rebuke, CBI arrests 5 defamatory posts against judges
“Despite constitutional declarations and guarantees, the lack of effective legal representation in police stations is a great loss to the person arrested or detained,” he said.
The Chief Justice of India, who was addressing an event organized by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), said that the dissemination of information about the constitutional right to legal aid and the availability of free legal aid services is to prevent police excesses. necessary for.
“The installation of display boards and outdoor hoardings in every police station or jail is a step in this direction,” he said.
For a society to remain governed by the rule of law, the Chief Justice stressed that it is imperative to bridge the gap in access to justice between the highly privileged and the most vulnerable.
“The realities of the socio-economic diversity prevailing in our country can never be a reason for deprivation of rights. If, as an institution, the judiciary wants to win the trust of the citizens, we have to assure everyone that We are there for them. For the longest time, vulnerable populations have been out of the justice system,” he was quoted as saying by IANS.
He said that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been able to continue our legal aid services successfully.
He said, “Most of the people who do not have access to justice are from rural and remote areas, who suffer from lack of connectivity. I have already stressed on the need for the government to bridge the digital divide on a priority basis. Giving is written.”
NALSA has been constituted under the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 to provide free legal services to the weaker sections of the society and to organize Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes.
.