HC appoints amicus curiae to study custodial deaths in state prisons

The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday appointed senior counsel Dhyan Chinnappa as amicus curiae to assist the court in a suo motu case regarding custodial deaths in the prisons of Karnataka.

An amicus curiae is a person appointed by the court who is not party to a case and is also not solicited by a party but is a person who assists the court by offering information that is critical to the case.

A division bench of acting Chief Justice H G Ramesh and Justice P S Dinesh Kumar directed Chinnappa to undertake a detailed study of the custodial deaths in prisons and adjourned the matter to Monday.

The court has taken up a suo motu case following a Supreme Court direction to chief justices of high courts over custodial deaths in prisons across the country.

The apex court had asked all high courts to register petitions on their own to find out the next kin of prisoners who admittedly died unnatural deaths between 2012 and 2015 as revealed by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data and, to award them with suitable compensation where they had not been awarded as such.

The bench has asked Chinappa to find out the compensations paid to the families of the deceased in custodial deaths and who are yet to be paid the compensation.