The Legal Reality Behind India's 'Encounter' Killings

An image is formed in the mind as soon as one hears'encounter'- an encounter between the police and a criminal, a hail of bullets and then a body covered in blood. But do you know that there is no such word as'encounter'or'encounter killing'in the law of India? Neither in the Indian Penal Code, nor in the Criminal Procedure Code, nor in the now-implemented Indian Civil Defence Code. It is a colloquial term, the real legal roots of which are hidden in the police's right to self-defence and powers of arrest. The most basic right for the police to open fire comes from the'right of private defence'given in Sections 34 to 44 of the Indian Penal Code. These sections give every citizen the right to kill the assailant if there is an immediate threat to his own or another's life. Provided this is when the threat is too great and there is no escape route. The second most important provision of the Indian Civil Defence Code (BNSS 2023) says that the accused is opposed to arrest.