Police & jail misconductOversight & ethics enforcementPhysical & psychological abuse
Parliament told of 170 deaths in custody in 2025-26 and one disciplinary action in five years; NCRB data shows no police convictions for human rights violations from 2018 to 2023
Confidence: Alleged · 3 sourcesIndia · Oct 12, 2026
Subject of this story
State police forces (India)
Also named
Oversight
National Human Rights Commission (India)
What happened
Data from the National Human Rights Commission presented in the Lok Sabha on March 24, 2026 showed 170 custodial deaths in 2025-26 up to March 15, with annual totals between 140 and 176 over five years, and only one disciplinary action (in Tamil Nadu) reported across that period. The Minister of State for Home Affairs noted that police and public order are state subjects, and that the NHRC recommends action while state governments carry out disciplinary proceedings. NCRB data analysed by Dataful shows 2,373 cases registered against police for human rights violations between 1999 and 2023, with three convictions, all in 2017 and none from 2018 to 2023.
Sources (3)
Maktoob MediaThe data, shared by the Ministry of Home Affairs, is based on state-wise information compiled by the National Human Rights Commission.
The WireOnly one case of disciplinary action reported over the entire five-year period, in Tamil Nadu
dataful.inZero convictions in six consecutive years, 2018-2023
Response
State police forces (India)
Not yet contacted
Not yet contacted for this story.
What happened next (0)
No outcome recorded yet.