NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, INDIA The Report was issued by the Commission in pursuance of Central Government’s direction to Law Commission to examine the issue of ratification of UN convention against Torture. 4.11 A brief note on the issue was placed before the Commission in its meeting held on 21st May, 2018. The Commission considered the matter and directed to seek the then status of the Bill from the MHA. Subsequently, it was directed to do a comparative analysis of the International Convention against Torture, 1984 and Prevention of Torture Bill, 2017 which was discussed at the meeting held on 12th July, 2018. The corrections suggested during the meeting were duly incorporated in the latest bill. The Commission also organized an Open House Discussion on the analysis of Prevention of Torture Bill, 2017 to discuss the incorporated changes. 4.12 In the meantime, the former Law Minister, Dr. Ashwini Kumar had approached the Hon’ble Supreme Court praying for a comprehensive law for the prevention of torture. The Hon’ble Supreme Court vide its Order dated 14.02.2019 had reserved the judgment. The Attorney General of India submitted that the prayer made in the Writ Petition has been the subject matter of discussion in the Law Commission and it has already made certain recommendations. He would further submit the report which is being seriously considered by the Government. Keeping in view the submissions made by the Attorney General, the Supreme Court observed that it does not intend to keep the said Writ Petition Pending and disposed it accordingly. C. Internal Meeting on Torture Held on 28th May, 2019 4.13 An internal meeting on Torture was held on 28th May, 2019 in the Commission under the Chairmanship of Secretary General Shri Jaideep Govind. The objective of this meeting was to discuss the other issues of torture that are prevalent in the society with the Bill for Prevention against Torture still pending in the Supreme Court. 4.14 The recommendations of the meeting are as follows: i. It was recommended that the ambit of the definition of torture to be expanded to include private individuals also. ii. The expression of torture by public servants should not only be confined to custodial torture but should be exhaustive enough to include cases of denial of services by the public servants as well. iii. Standard procedures for dealing with cases pertaining to torture should be laid down systematically. Such procedures should have a compact time frame. iv. It was recommended that a comprehensive process of sensitization of the large masses with regards to the remedies of torture should be conducted and organized by the Research Division. v. It was recommended to conduct a survey of negligence of elderly and senior citizens along with the identification and effective implementation of schemes like Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 and other remedies against such atrocities. ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20 41