Report No. 273

B. Reports of the Law Commission of India

(i) 113th Report (1985): Injuries In Police Custody

3.6 In the 113th Report the Law Commission recommended the amendment to the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, by inserting section 114B providing that in case of custodial injuries, if there is evidence, the court may presume that injury was caused by the police having the custody of that person during that period. Onus to prove contrary is on the police authorities. Law requires for adoption of a realistic approach rather than narrow technical approach in cases of custodial crimes. The amendment proposed by the Commission reads as under:

"114-B. (1) In a prosecution (of a police officer) for an offence constituted by an act alleged to have caused bodily injury to a person, if there is evidence that the injury was caused during a period when that person was in the custody of the police, the court may presume that the injury was caused by the police officer having custody of that person during that period.

(2) The court, in deciding whether or not it should draw a presumption under sub-section (1), shall have regard to all the relevant circumstances including, in particular,

(a) the period of custody,

(b) any statement made by the victim as to how the injuries were received, being a statement admissible in evidence,

(c) the evidence of any medical practitioner who might have examined the victim, and

(d) evidence of any magistrate who might have recorded the victim's statement or attempted to record it."