Chapter-VI Judicial Control of Abuse of Investigatory and Custodial Power The police and other custodial institutions are conferred extensive and wide powers to effectively investigate and exercise diverse kinds of restrants over the body or property of the accused persons. However, often the judiciary is required to adjudicate on the issues of abuse of aforesaid powers and make appropriate restorative decisions. The situations leading to abuse of investigatory or custodial powers relate mainly to instances of torture in the course of detention, arbitrary and excessive detention, sexual abuse in custody, death in custody, extra-judicial executions, etc. In the recent times, the problem of abuse of powers in the course of extra- ordinary law and order situations and collusive disappearances and missing persons/children has appeared as a new form of abuse of powers by the state functionaries. Though there are large number of apex court rulings that aim at laying down strict standards of exercise of executive powers, but judiciary at the lower levels still requires explicit enunciation of such standard setting norms of which the notable ones are given in the following tables: Box-35 The court of the Judicial Magistrate/Metropolitan Magistrate shall: S.176 (1A) Cr.P.C. 1. Ensure that in case of death / disappearance of a person from the police/judicial custody, or in the case of rape on any woman while in police/judicial custody, an enquiry is held by a Judicial Magistrate/Metropolitan Magistrate, within whose local jurisdiction the offence has been committed, in addition to the enquiry/ investigation held by the police. 2. Ensure that the Magistrate holding such an enquiry shall record all the evidences collected during such enquiry required in to the circumstances of the case. 53