‘Coroner’ could ensure doubt-free autopsies

Crucial they might be, post-mortem reports in India are often the weakest and the most suspicious link in cases involving death. But this may no longer be the case.

If the Law Commission’s recommendations to enact a Coroners Act is heeded to by the government, post-mortem reports would not be subject matter of any controversy as there would be a designated officer in each area to take care of this legal necessity.

The recommendation, on the line of a similar British law, was handed over to the law ministry on Tuesday by Commission chairman Justice A R Lakshmanan.

Admitting that “divergent post-mortem reports and statements of witnesses have led to an alarming rate of acquittal in criminal cases”, the commission has suggested appointment of a coroner for each district and also for each Union territory. The coroner will have jurisdiction over a dead body found within his territorial jurisdiction, whether the death occurs in any part of the country or abroad. The commission took note of the recent abnormal spurt in unnatural deaths, especially in places like hospitals, in police firings, railways and other vehicles, and even in the households by way of dowry deaths before deciding to recommend the new law.

The panel examined the Coroners Act, 1871, the Coroners Act, 1988 (UK), relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the Indian Penal Code, 1860, keeping in view the scope of Article 21 of the Constitution, so as to include the right to know the correct cause of death of any person, especially when the death is unnatural or suspicious.
With thanks from The Times of India 11 June 2008 P. 17 Delhi

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