GOVERNMENT OF KERALA, REP BY CHIEF SECRETARY Vs. NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, REP THROUGH ITS SECRETARY-GENERAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The death of an under-trial prisoner invariab ly and inexorably will throw up serious questions on the role of the prison officials and the obligation of the State to answer charges of human rights violation, as also the consequential reparatory measures adopted by it.

(2.) This case calls focus into these issues on account of the intervention of the National Human Rights Commission, which took cognizance of the death of an under-trial lodged in one of the jails in Kerala. The immediate cause for this writ petition are certain orders issued by the National Human Rights Commission against the State of Kerala, reiterating the need for urgent compensatory relief to the next of kin and dependents of the deceased.

(3.) The State of Kerala and its functionaries have filed this writ petition impugning Exhibits P4,P7,P8 & P9 proceedings of the National Human Rights Commission on the asserted grounds that the findings and recommendations therein are contrary to law and have been made without affording proper opportunity of being heard to them.