36 i CIVIL LIBERTIES 4.40 As indicated earlier in this report, in the course of the year under review, the Commission considered it essential to modify, in part, its standing instructions in respect of the videography of post-mortem examinations of deaths occurring in judicial custody. This was done through a letter dated 21 December 2001 from the Chairperson of the Commission to Chief Ministers/Chief Administrators of the States/Union Territories. In that letter, the Chairperson stated that the Commission had been happy to observe the significant impact of its standing instructions in respect of custodial violence in the country. He added, however, that an analysis of the cases of custodial deaths reported to the Commission over the past five years had highlighted the need for a re-examination of the instructions on the need for videography in respect of cases of deaths in jail, keeping in mind the utility of such videography and the practical difficulties that had been pointed out by some of the jail authorities. A scrutiny of the reports received by the Commission had indicated that while deaths in police custody were very often the result of custodial violence, the majority of deaths reported from jails were due to illness aggravated by negligence in providing timely and proper treatment. Although the Commission considered the post-mortem examination to be essential even in such cases, it felt that the requirement of videography of the examination could be relaxed to some extent. 4.41 In modification of its instructions, as mentioned earlier in this report, the Commission directed that, while its instructions regarding the videography of the post-mortem examination in respect of a death in police custody would remain in force as before, the requirement of videography of the post-mortem examination in respect of a death in jail would be applicable only when the preliminary inquest by the magistrate had raised suspicion of some foul play, or when a complaint alleging foul play had been made to the authorities concerned, or there was any other reason for suspicion of foul play. E] Systemic Reforms: Police 4.42 For the past many years, the Commission has been emphasising with increasing urgency that there must be major police reforms in the country if the human rights situation is to improve, if the investigation work of the police is to be insulated from 'extraneous influences', and if the police is to be accorded the trust that it needs for the proper discharge of its responsibilities to the people of this country. NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION