Chapter - 4 HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION CASES A. Number and Nature of Complaints 4.1 As in the previous year, the Commission received a wide range of complaints relating to human rights violations from various parts of the country. The complaints included cases alleging custodial deaths, torture, police high-handedness, violations commi�ed by security forces, prison conditions, atrocities on women and children and other vulnerable sections, bonded labour, negligence of public authorities, etc. The Commission also took suo motu cognizance of many incidents of violation of human rights based on reports in newspapers, television and visits undertaken by its Chairperson, Members, Special Rapporteurs and senior officers. The following paras summarize the number and nature of the complaints and also observations made by the Commission in some important cases. 4.2 During the year under review, the NHRC had a total of 1,00,167 cases for examination. These figures include cases that were brought forward from previous years as well as fresh cases registered during the period under report (Annexure 1& 2) . It disposed off 85,587 cases. These figures include 5,929 cases which were transfered by the NHRC to the State Human Rights Commissions (SHRCs) in accordance with the provisions of the PHRA. The State-wise and category-wise details of all these cases are shown in Annexure - 3. 4.3 At the end of the reporting period, that is on 31 March 2010, the total number of cases pending with the Commission was 14,580, which included 2,809 cases awaiting preliminary consideration and 11,771 cases in respect of which reports were either awaited from the authorities concerned or the reports had been received but were pending further consideration off the Commission (Annexure-4). In the beginning of the year, that is on 1 April 2009 a total number of 18,146 cases were pending before the Commission Annexure - 1 4.4 82,021 cases were registered in the Commission during 2009-2010, while the corresponding figure for the year 2008-2009 was 90,946. Of the cases that were registered during the year under review, 80,260 cases were complaints of alleged human rights violations 1,599 cases were about intimations of custodial deaths, 2 related to intimations of custodial rapes and 111 pertained to encounters (104 encounters by Police and 7 encounters by Defence Forces). As per the guidelines issued by the Commission, every death in police and judicial custody is to be reported to the NHRC for its scrutiny irrespective of such death being natural or otherwise. Of the custodial deaths that were reported in the course of the year 2009-2010, 2 deaths allegedly occurred in the custody of defence / para-military forces, 124 deaths occurred in police custody, 1,473 deaths in judicial custody. Most of the deaths in judicial custody were due to prolonged illness, old age and other incapacitating factors (Annexure-2). NHRC 15