Ranchi, May 14 -- The Jharkhand High Court has ordered fresh judicial inquiries in 262 custodial death cases in Jharkhand after finding that probes were conducted by Executive Magistrates instead of Judicial Magistrates in violation of statutory provisions.
Disposing of a public interest litigation, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Rajesh Shankar termed the situation a case of "systemic non-compliance" and expressed shock over the state's handling of custodial death inquiries.
The PIL was filed by Md Mumtaz Ansari seeking enforcement of mandatory judicial inquiries in cases of custodial deaths, disappearances and custodial rape.
According to figures placed before the court by the state government, Jharkhan...