C I V I L L I B E RT I E S was underlined, inter alia, that the post mortem report should be submitted in accordance with a new format that had been devised by the Commission. 4.37 The Commission has noted, over the years, that its instructions have, by and large, been followed by the agencies of the State. It has also been observed, however, that when there have been delays in reporting such incidents, the Commission has had good reason to draw an adverse inference as to the conduct of the public servants involved. In such instances, it has often proven necessary to probe further, to see as to whether the death has been caused by custodial violence or negligence, and to take the matter to its logical conclusion. 4.38 The pursuit of the truth in such cases is of crucial importance to the protection of the rights of those who are in the custody of the State. When a wrong has been done, it is not surprising that an effort is sometimes made to conceal the truth or to underplay the responsibility of those involved. What is surprising, however, is the effort that has sometimes been made to block the jurisdiction of the National Human Rights Commission by invoking the provisions of section 36(1) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 by asserting that another Commission has taken cognizance of a custodial death prior to the National Human Rights Commission. As observed in the preceding annual report of this Commission, in order to prevent such stratagems, there is obvious need to amend section 36(1) of the Act along the lines already recommended by the Commission. The delay in proceeding with the amendments to the Act is clearly detrimental to the better protection of human rights in the country. 4.39 In the course of the year under review, the separate Cell established in the Investigation Division to scrutinize incidents of custodial violence continued to perform its duty. This Cell was entrusted with the task of obtaining the relevant documents from the concerned authorities and then critically analyzing that material with a view to assisting the Commission in deciding whether any further action was required to be taken in respect of such incidents. In each instance, the precise nature of the decision rested with the Commission itself. 4.40 In the year 2002-2003, the figures reported to the Commission were 183 deaths in police custody and 1,157 deaths in judicial custody making a total of 1,340 deaths in custody as against a total of 1,307 such deaths in 2001-2002, of which 165 occurred in police custody, 1,140 in judicial custody and 2 in the custody of para-military forces. The increase in the number of deaths, both in ANNUAL REPORT 2002-2003 ... ... 55 ... ... ..