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Following the procedural lapses identified during the autopsies of custodial death victims B. Ajith Kumar of Madapuram and Akash Delison of Manamadurai in Sivaganga district, Tamil Nadu, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed all States to strictly implement standardised protocols for post-mortem examinations in custodial death cases.
In a letter dated March 20, 2026, N. Bhuvaneswari, Joint Secretary to Government in the Health and Family Welfare Department, has written to the Director of Medical Education and Research to peruse the current procedure in accordance with the NHRC’s direction and submit an action-taken report on or before March 23, 2026, for onward submission to the NHRC.
The letter stated, “The NHRC has directed all States that at least in custodial death, the post-mortem examination must be ‘done by a board of at least three doctors preferably from three different institutions. If from the same institution, they are generally under obvious pressure of the most senior person in the board.’”
Further, it has also mandated that: “All doctors doing post-mortem must be holding a postgraduate degree in forensic medicine and must have at least an experience of five years in the specialty of post-mortem examination.”
A government forensic expert, who did not want to be named, cited the post-mortem report of alleged custodial death victim Akash Delison and said that the autopsy, carried out at Government Rajaji Hospital by an Associate Professor and an Assistant Professor of Madurai Medical College, was a case of how superficial and procedurally flawed such examinations can be.
“While it may look usual at a glance, there is a high chance that the Associate Professor, who is senior in cadre and in a position of authority, may influence the findings or sign off on a perfunctory report to align with the police narrative,” he added.
Aligning with the NHRC’s recent directives, forming a post-mortem team of three senior doctors of equal rank from three different institutions would provide the necessary checks and balances, the forensic expert noted.
“This cross-institutional oversight is vital for an objective result in such a crucial procedure, which often serves as the final, definitive evidence to prove or disprove allegations of custodial torture,” he stated.
People’s Watch Executive Director and human rights advocate Henri Tiphagne, commenting on the NHRC’s recent directions, said that while choosing doctors from three different institutions was commendable, the other measures were nothing new compared to the directions issued by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on December 9, 2020, in the Santosh vs. The District Collector case.
“We already have higher standards of procedures to be followed. It would be great if the NHRC directs the State governments to follow rules, such as allowing families of the victims to see the body and produce the autopsy report and video on the same day of the procedure,” he added.
It would be even more great if they could learn and promote international standards of post-mortem procedure, as in the Minnesota and Istanbul protocols, Mr. Tiphagne remarked.
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