The National Survey of Extra-Judicial Deaths is an ongoing project supported by the Thakur Family Foundation. Mr. Pranav Verma (Assistant Professor (Law), NLSIU) is Principal Investigator on the project alongside Ms. Mangla Verma and Mr. Vipul Kumar (Advocates, and Convenors of the Youth for Human Rights Documentation – a civil rights group of lawyers and researchers based in Delhi). Initiated in 2022, the project aims to identify gaps in extra-judicial deaths jurisprudence through substantive evidence-based research, and advocate for a judicial review of the existing guidelines framed by the Supreme Court and the National Human Rights Commission.
As part of the project, extensive state-wide information has been collected across 20-23 states and voluminous investigation records pertaining to several investigations into extra-judicial deaths have been analysed. These include FIR copies, magisterial inquiry reports, post-mortem reports, NHRC recommendations and orders, etc. The aim is to present a quantitative survey looking at nation-wide statistics on extra-judicial deaths, and also a qualitative analysis based on investigation records into individual cases.
The project proposes to publish an interim report by September 2024, looking at the practice and investigation of police encounters across states from 1997 to May 2024. It will critically analyse existing legal framework and accountability mechanisms. Upon consultations with several stakeholders based on the interim report, the project aims to make its final findings publicly available.
