CIVIL LIBERTIES 1 21 3.36 The situation in Andhra Pradesh continued to be deeply disturbing, with frequent complaints of 'fake' encounters being brought to the notice of the Commission. The matter was accordingly raised at the level of the Chief Minister by the Chairperson, when he visited the State in March 2001. 3.37 The Commission has urged that inquiries into encounter deaths be carried out by police officers known for their impartiality and integrity. Given the large number of pending inquiries, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has also been advised to setup a mechanism to ejqjedite these inquiries and to give proper publicity to the results so that the people of the State do not lose faith in the system and can, instead, come to the conclusion that the authorities function with transparency and accountability. D] Video Filming of Post-Mortem Examination and Revision of Autopsy Forms 3.38 In its endeavour to ensure that reporting on custodial deaths is accmate and timely, the Commission had recommended to all States and Union Territories (UTs) that the post-mortem examination of custodial deaths be video-frlmed and transmitted to the Commission so as to enable it to assess independently the cause of such deaths. During the year 2000-2001, the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh indicated that they would comply with the Commission's recommendations, in addition to those who had done so earlier. The remaining States and Union Territories viz., Maharashtra, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands were urged to follow the example of others and to comply with the recommendations at an early date. 3.39 The Commission also continued to urge those States that had not yet done so to comply with its recommendation to adopt the Model Autopsy Form prepared by the Commission and circulated to States and Union Territories on 27 March 1997. Reminders were issued on 31 January 2001 and 12 March 2001. The Governments of Arunachal Pradesh and Maharashtra reported their acceptance of the recommendation during the period under review, the latter seeking certain clarifications from the Commission. The Government of Jammu and Kashmir responded saying that the Forensic Medicine Department of the Government Medical College of the State had suggested certain modifications for incorporation in the form. ANNUAL REPORT 2000-2001