Parliament Question: Custodial Deaths

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5115 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 24TH MARCH, 2026/ CHAITRA 3, 1948 (SAKA) CUSTODIAL DEATHS 5115. COM. SELVARAJ V: SHRI SUBBARAYAN K: SHRI RAJKUMAR ROAT: Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state: (a) the number of deaths that have occurred in police custody and police personnel arrested and convicted along other action taken against them in the country during each of the last five years, State and category-wise including Districts of Rajasthan; (b) the number of undertrial and convicted prisoners currently lodged in various jails in the country, State, district and category-wise including Rajasthan; and (c) whether the Government has any mechanism to ensure accountability of custodial deaths and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI NITYANAND RAI) (a): As per information received from National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), details of cases registered in respect of death in Police custody in States/ UTs including Rajasthan during each of the last five years from 01.04.2021 to 15.03.2026 is at Annexure I. Regarding disciplinary action recommended by NHRC in cases of Custodial deaths in State/ UT including Rajasthan, there is only 1 case reported in Tamilnadu during last five years from 01.04.2021 to 15.03.2026. In this regard, District-wise information is not maintained by the Commission.-2- L.S.US.Q.NO. 5115 FOR 24.03.2026 (b): As per the latest information received from National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), the details of under trial and convicted prisoners State/UT- wise including Rajasthan as on 31st December, 2023 is at Annexure-II. In this regard, District-wise information is not maintained by the Bureau. (c): “Police and Public Order” are State subjects as per seventh schedule to the Constitution of India. The Ministry of Home Affairs and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issue advisories from time to time to ensure protection of human rights. Further, pursuant to the guidelines issued by the NHRC, every death in custody, police or judicial, natural or otherwise, is to be reported to the Commission within 24 hours of its occurrence. The Commission also issued guidelines for video filming of post-mortem and circulated model autopsy form to rule out any negligence/foul play or torture in custodial deaths. If an enquiry by the Commission into police/judicial custodial deaths discloses negligence by a public servant, the Commission recommends to authorities of Central/State governments for initiation of proceedings for prosecution against erring public servant. The disciplinary action against the erring public servant is to be taken by the respective State Government as per extant rules, procedures, etc. ******ANNEXURE – I L.S.US.Q.NO. 5115 FOR 24.03.2026 Statement showing State- wise total no. of cases registered in respect of custodial deaths during the period from 01.04.2021 to 15.03.2026. S. No. STATE/UT Name 2025-up to 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 15.03.2026 1. ANDHRA PRADESH 1 5 3 1 1 2. ARUNACHAL 0 3 3 5 3 PRADESH 3. ASSAM 9 11 8 13 5 4. BIHAR 18 16 13 10 19 5. CHHATTISGARH 2 1 2 3 4 6. GOA 1 2 1 0 0 7. GUJARAT 24 15 18 14 14 8. HARYANA 4 3 7 4 10 9. HIMACHAL PRADESH 0 1 0 2 1 10. JHARKHAND 5 5 4 7 3 11. KARNATAKA 8 5 7 2 3 12. KERALA 6 2 6 5 3 13. MADHYA PRADESH 8 8 12 8 8 14. MAHARASHTRA 30 22 21 14 14 15. MANIPUR 1 2 1 0 0 16. MEGHALAYA 4 0 1 3 0 17. MIZORAM 1 0 0 0 0 18. NAGALAND 2 0 1 0 1 19. ODISHA 2 3 2 2 9 20. PUNJAB 9 10 6 6 14 21. RAJASTHAN 13 4 7 9 18 22. SIKKIM 1 0 0 0 0 23. TAMIL NADU 4 7 4 5 7 24. TELANGANA 4 1 1 1 5 25. TRIPURA 1 1 0 0 0 26. UTTAR PRADESH 8 10 12 11 15 27. UTTARAKHAND 2 4 0 1 2 28. WEST BENGAL 5 15 8 7 7 29. ANDAMAN & 0 0 0 1 1 NICOBAR 30. CHANDIGARH 0 0 0 1 0 31. DADRA & NAGAR 0 0 0 0 0 HAVELI 32. DAMAN & DIU 0 0 0 0 0 33. DELHI 1 5 7 3 4 34. JAMMU & KASHMIR 2 2 2 2 0 35. LADAKH 0 0 0 0 0 36. LAKSHADWEEP 0 0 0 0 0 37. PUDUCHERRY 0 0 0 0 1 38. TOTAL 176 163 157 140 170ANNEXURE-II L.S.US.Q.NO. 5115 FOR 24.03.2026 Details of Undertrial and Convicted Prisoners as on 31st December, 2023 Convicts Undertrials S.No. State/UT M F Tr. Total M F Tr. Total (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) 1. ANDHRA PRADESH 2101 112 0 2213 5261 298 9 5568 2. ARUNACHAL PRADESH 167 5 0 172 182 6 0 188 3. ASSAM 3020 76 0 3096 7217 329 0 7546 4. BIHAR 6336 208 0 6544 44706 1821 2 46529 5. CHHATTISGARH 6586 306 0 6892 11047 471 2 11520 6. GOA 88 2 0 90 443 33 0 476 7. GUJARAT 4970 180 4 5154 11183 364 2 11549 8. HARYANA 6095 198 0 6293 18691 600 1 19292 9. HIMACHAL PRADESH 957 31 0 988 1760 67 0 1827 10. JHARKHAND 5034 221 0 5255 12997 587 0 13584 11. KARNATAKA 3349 132 0 3481 11344 379 0 11723 12. KERALA 3514 63 0 3577 5897 166 1 6064 13. MADHYA PRADESH 21433 948 2 22383 22108 854 2 22964 14. MAHARASHTRA 7702 298 0 8000 31011 1401 26 32438 15. MANIPUR 115 3 0 118 388 28 0 416 16. MEGHALAYA 396 6 0 402 864 17 0 881 17. MIZORAM 638 72 0 710 1038 209 0 1247 18. NAGALAND 147 0 0 147 407 25 0 432 19. ODISHA 3278 85 1 3364 14266 509 3 14778 20. PUNJAB 6666 310 0 6976 23308 1186 9 24503 21. RAJASTHAN 5293 126 1 5420 16799 464 0 17263 22. SIKKIM 145 2 0 147 170 1 0 171 23. TAMIL NADU 5781 248 2 6031 11739 612 0 12351 24. TELANGANA 1885 117 0 2002 3562 236 1 3799 25. TRIPURA 461 19 0 480 783 64 0 847 26. UTTAR PRADESH 24039 1107 0 25146 70665 2819 7 73491 27. UTTARAKHAND 2382 105 0 2487 4234 163 1 4398 28. WEST BENGAL 4480 449 12 4941 19017 1264 13 20294 TOTAL (STATES) 127058 5429 22 132509 351087 14973 79 366139 29. A & N ISLANDS 203 2 0 205 166 2 0 168 30. CHANDIGARH 331 20 0 351 696 22 0 718 31. DNH & DAMAN DIU 10 0 0 10 133 1 0 134 32. DELHI 2070 69 0 2139 17183 644 7 17834 33. JAMMU & KASHMIR 193 6 0 199 4399 169 0 4568 34. LADAKH 4 0 0 4 42 0 0 42 35. LAKSHADWEEP 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 36. PUDUCHERRY 116 3 0 119 290 14 0 304 TOTAL (UTs) 2927 100 0 3027 22912 852 7 23771 TOTAL (ALL- INDIA) 129985 5529 22 135536 373999 15825 86 389910 -----