IV. Provision under Criminal Procedure Code 1953 2.17 Section 334 of CPC outlines that: “When any person dies while in the custody of the police or in a mental hospital orprison, the officer who had the custody of that person or was in charge of that mental hospital or prison, as the case may be, shall immediately give intimation of such death to the nearest Magistrate, and the Magistrate or some other Magistrate shall, in the case of a death in the custody of the police, and in other cases may, if he thinks expedient, hold an inquiry into the cause of death.” 2.18 It is clearly enacted in the Section that the officer in-charge in supervising a detainee should inform the Coroner (formerly to inform the Magistrate prior to the establishment of Coroner’s Court) immediately whenever death in custody occurs. 2.19 Other than that, based on Practice Direction No. 2 2014, the Coroner has the power to carry out an inquiry on the cause of deaths in custody as mentioned in Section 335 of CPC: “(1) A Magistrate holding an inquiry under this Chapter shall have all the powers which he would have in holding an inquiry on an offence. (2) A Magistrate holding an inquiry under this Chapter if he considers it expedient that the body of the deceased person should be examined by a Medical Officer in order to discover the cause of death may, whether a post-mortem examination has been made under section 331 or not, issue his order to a Medical Officer to make a post-mortem examination of the body, and may for that purpose order the body to be exhumed.” 2.20 Meanwhile Section 336, 337 and 338 of CPC57 outline several matters that must be done by the Coroner in carrying out inquiry on deaths in custody like the 57 Section 336 Magistrate may view the body. 24