Annual Report 2013-14 believes that all persons responsible for acts of terrorism should be proceeded against in accordance with the law and that the existing laws are, by and large, sufficient. It is the firm view of the Commission that though the terrorist threats that we are facing now are on an unprecedented scale, but since the fundamental rationale of anti-terrorism measures has to be to protect human rights and democracy, counter-terrorism measures should not undermine democratic values, violate human rights, and subvert the rule of law. While fighting the war against terrorism, the state cannot be permitted to be either selective in its approach or to go overboard and declare a war on the civil liberties of the people. B. Custodial Violence and Torture 4.8 Custodial violence is a calculated assault on human dignity. The Commission remained deeply engaged in efforts to bring to an end the egregious violations of human rights that result in custodial deaths. A systematic effort to curb custodial violence has been a major priority of the Commission. Since its inception in 1993, the NHRC issued guidelines to all the States and Union Territories according to which it is mandatory for the District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police of every District to report all deaths in police and judicial custody to the Commission within 24 hours of its occurrence or having come to know about such incidents. Failure to report promptly would give rise to presumption that there was an attempt to supress the incident. Furthermore, all cases of deaths in police action are to be reported to the Commission by the Senior Superintendent of Police/Superintendent of the Police of the District within 48 hours of such death. However, despite these guidelines, the Commission has noticed that some of the States are not adhering to the same in true spirit. The Commission, once again requests all the States and Union Territories to follow its guidelines in all cases where death is caused in police action. 4.9 It is pertinent to note that not all the cases of custodial deaths can be attributed to custodial violence or medical negligence. In fact, many of these deaths are due to natural causes such as illness and old age. In the remaining cases, there are a variety of reasons including illness aggravated by medical negligence, violence by public servants or between prisoners, suicide, etc. C. Illustrative Cases a) Custodial Deaths Judicial Custody 1. Death of Undertrial Prisoner Radhey Shyam at Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur, Rajasthan (Case No. 168/20/14/09-10-JCD) 4.10 The Commission on 29 April 2009 took cognizance of an intimation received from the Superintendent, Central Prison, Jaipur, regarding death of an undertrial prisoner Radhey Shyam s/o Dunga Ram who was admitted in prison on 18 April 2009. After two days, he was admitted in the Jail Hospital for treatment but his condition deteriorated and he was shifted 28 | NHRC