The Rajya Sabha Select Committee on the Torture Bill has recommended significant amendments to the Prevention of Torture Bill passed by the Lok Sabha. These recommendations include widening the definitions of ‘torture’ and of ‘public servant’, increasing the limitation period for filing a complaint to up to 2 years, provision for judicial review of a governmental decision to refuse sanction to prosecute, and a provision to clarify that torture shall not be justifiable even in the context of war, threat of war, or on orders of a superior. The full report is available here.
[For past coverage of the Bill on this blog, please click here.]
Rajya Sabha Committee Report on Torture Bill
Further reading
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A statute, even by express terms, cannot exclude judicial review by the constitutional courts. So, what is the need for an amendment on this score?
my bad – clause 7(2) expressly provides not for judicial review but a substantive appeal against a refusal to give sanction. this is a huge step towards ending impunity.