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The government is in a quandary over the Torture Bill, which has run into rough weather with both the principal Opposition party BJP and the Left wing parties opposing the Bill vociferously in the Rajya Sabha, where the ruling UPA is on a shaky wicket with less numbers.
India is a signatory to an international convention against torture since 1975. After a long 35 years down the line, in May this year, the government brought a Bill in the Lok Sabha in tune with the convention. The lower House passed it. But in the Upper House there is friction over a clause that police and government officials who extract information from suspects ''intentionally'' through physical or mental torture can be tried after prior ''sanction'' from relevant authorities.
While the BJP says the bill is loaded in favour of criminals and is against the police, the Left parties rubbishes the BJP's contention and says the Bill should be more victim friendly. But the Left parties say that if the intention is to make a law which is for victims - women who face torture in custody -, then the Bill should go to a select parliamentary committee for further discussion.
The government now has to figure out a middle path. To pass the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, it needs support from either the left or the right.
Meanwhile the country's cops, who depend on good old-fashioned third degree in the absence of scientific crime fighting facilities, are awaiting the outcome of this tussle. If passed, the khaki's fear factor may never be the same again.
