Extrajudicial Killings in India : An Analysis on its Legality and Prevalence (Paper)
- Yajush Tripathi, GNLU, Gandhinagar
- October 10, 2020
Content :
Extrajudicial killings as the name itself suggests are the killings which are not under the purview of law. They are often targeted towards eminent social, religious and political figures and mainly the perpetrators are state authorities like police officials or armed personnel, those killings where aforementioned authorities take away any person’s life because of some ulterior motives, i.e, which cater only their interests and not state’s then those killings would not fall within the ambit of “extra judicial killings” . These killings are not only prevalent in India but are also prevalent across the world. This Ill practiseis considered to be against the virtue of democracy. If extra judicial killings become a way of dispensing justice, then it will become a hindrance to democracy and will signify hegemony in India. These killings are generally regarded as capricious misuse of power by certain police officials, public officials, duty officials or any official who is duty bound to carry on nitty- gritty of the pre-trial of the accused. International law does not explain extrajudicial killings coherently in its texts. But it is deemed unlawful attributable to the interpretation of the various laws related to personal liberty, security and human rights. In India also there are some laws which directly address this issue and some in an indirect way.
Therefore, extrajudicial killings can be considered as violation of basic human rights and it also violates the right of “Audi Alteram Partem” that means both the parties have a right to be heard before a court of law”. These killings have been very prevalent in contemporary times and have created quite a lot of stir in the country. The legality of this issue has been a point of contention for a brief period of time now.
