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.
HC issues guidelines for conducting post mortem
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.”
