{"id":344953,"date":"2025-08-22T18:56:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T13:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=344953"},"modified":"2025-08-23T09:45:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T04:15:05","slug":"teaching-a-lesson-cannot-justify-custodial-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/teaching-a-lesson-cannot-justify-custodial-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching a lesson cannot justify custodial violence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source<\/strong>: The post Teaching a lesson cannot justify custodial violence has been created, based on the article \u201cJustice is not about <\/strong>\u2018<\/strong>teaching someone a lesson<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong>\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu<\/strong>\u201d on 22nd August 2025. Teaching a lesson cannot justify custodial violence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Teaching<\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus Topic:<\/strong> GS Paper <\/strong>2- <\/strong>Governance- criminal Justice system<\/p>\n

Context<\/strong>: A Chhattisgarh High Court ruling on a custodial death said police intended \u201cto teach a lesson.\u201d A Dalit man died hours after a clean medical check. It legitimises brutality and weakens constitutional policing.<\/p>\n

For detailed information Custodial Violence in India<\/strong> read this article here <\/a><\/p>\n

The Case and Judicial Finding<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Troubling facts and timeline:<\/strong> A Dalit man, arrested for alleged public misbehaviour, was medically cleared without injuries and died in custody within hours. The postmortem recorded 26 wounds.<\/li>\n
  2. Trial conviction and charges:<\/strong> The trial court convicted four officers of murder, recognising a fatal assault shown by the postmortem and custody.<\/li>\n
  3. High Court alteration of offence:<\/strong> The High Court reduced the offence to culpable homicide, finding no intent to kill, only knowledge the assault could cause death.<\/li>\n
  4. The <\/strong>\u201c<\/strong>teach a lesson\u201d remark:<\/strong> By noting an intent \u201cto teach a lesson,\u201d the court cast violence as discipline. In a judgment, such phrasing shapes how misconduct is viewed.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Deterrence Logic and its Dangers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. Not a constitutional principle:<\/strong> \u201cTeaching a lesson\u201d is not a legal standard. It reflects vigilante logic where fear replaces rights and procedures.<\/li>\n
    2. Normalising torture: <\/strong>Treating violence as corrective zeal normalises custodial torture. Brutality appears as discipline rather than illegality.<\/li>\n
    3. Emboldening and steering policy:<\/strong> This framing invites officers to act as enforcer and judge. Judicial language then shapes policy, making future misconduct more likely.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Caste, Identity, and the SC\/ST Act<\/strong><\/h2>\n
        \n
      1. Erased victim identity:<\/strong> The deterrence narrative obscures the victim\u2019s Scheduled Caste identity. In rural India, upper-caste officers beating a Dalit detainee signals caste-coded enforcement.<\/li>\n
      2. Acquittal under the Act: <\/strong>The trial court acquitted the prime accused under the SC\/ST Act, and the High Court did not interfere, limiting accountability for caste-based harm.<\/li>\n
      3. Demand for explicit proof:<\/strong> Requiring explicit proof of caste motive ignores structural power. Without slurs or declarations, the Act is rarely triggered.<\/li>\n
      4. Consequence of a narrow lens: <\/strong>This narrow reading denies justice in cases the law sought to address, weakening the statute\u2019s protection.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Precedents Versus Persistent Abuse<\/strong><\/h2>\n
          \n
        1. Supreme Court safeguards:<\/strong> Judgments like D.K. Basu, Ashok K. Johri, State of U.P., and Munshi Singh Gautam require transparency, safeguards, and strict limits on police force.<\/li>\n
        2. Disproportionate victims: <\/strong>Custodial deaths persist at alarming levels, disproportionately affecting Dalits, Adivasis, and the poor, despite clear judicial guidance.<\/li>\n
        3. Weak enforcement and conflicted inquiries: <\/strong>Compliance is sporadic, and inquiries are often led by implicated institutions. This undermines accountability and enables repeat violations.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Pathways for Judicial Integrity and Reform<\/strong><\/h2>\n
            \n
          1. Reject deterrent framing and reassert policing limits:<\/strong> Courts must reject deterrent justifications and reaffirm police are constitutional functionaries, not disciplinarians. Using force for public nuisance erodes dignity, proportionality, and due process.<\/li>\n
          2. Apply law and strengthen oversight: <\/strong>The SC\/ST Act should be robustly applied wherever social power is weaponised. Independent accountability and enforceable safeguards are essential.<\/li>\n
          3. Guard against moral shelter: <\/strong>Courts must not offer moral cover to extra-legal instincts. A Constitution rooted in dignity and equality cannot coexist with \u201clessons\u201d written in bruises.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Question for practise:<\/strong><\/p>\n

            Discuss how framing custodial violence as \u201cteaching a lesson\u201d undermines constitutional policing and accountability in the Chhattisgarh case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Source: The post Teaching a lesson cannot justify custodial violence has been created, based on the article \u201cJustice is not about \u2018teaching someone a lesson\u2019\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 22nd August 2025. Teaching a lesson cannot justify custodial violence. UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2- Governance- criminal Justice system Context: A Chhattisgarh High Court… Continue reading Teaching a lesson cannot justify custodial violence<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":344989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230],"tags":[300,212,10498],"class_list":["post-344953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","tag-governance","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Teaching-a-lesson-cannot-justify-custodial-violence.png?fit=1280%2C850&ssl=1","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}