law prevailing in India, it would not be an offence if death is caused in the exercise of the right of private defence. Another provision under which the police officer can just@ the causing of death of another person, is Section 46 of the Criminal Procedure Cod=. This provision authorises the police to use force, extending upto the causing of deati, as may be necessary to arrest the person accused of an offence punishable with dea:h or imprisonment for life. It is, therefore, clear that when death is caused in an encounter, and if it is not justified as having been caused in exercise of the legitimate right of priva:e defence, or in proper exercise of the power of arrest under Section 46 of the Cr.P.C., the police officer causing the death, would be guilty of the offence of culpable homicide. Whether the causing of death in the encounter in a particular case was justified as falliw under any one of the two conditions, can only be ascertained by propzr investigatim and not othennrise. 5. The validity of the above procedure followed by the police in Andhra Pradesh w s challenged before the Commission. After hearing all the, parties and examining ths relevant statutory provisions in the context of the obligation of the State to conform t3 Article 21 of the Constitution, the Commission, by its order dated 5.1 1.1996, found t h ~ t the procedure followed in Andhra Pradesh was wrong and the Commission laid dowq and indicated the correct procedure to be followed in all such cases. A copy of the o r d a of the Commission furnishing the reasons and the correct procedure to be followed is enclosed. These recommendations have been accepted by the Andhra Pradesh Government. 6. As the decision of the Commission bears on important issues of Human Rights which arise frequently in other parts of the country as well, the Commission decided to recommend the correct procedure to be followed in this behalf to all the States. The procedure, briefly stated, is as .follows: A. When the police officer in charge of a Police Station receives information about the deaths in an encounter between the Police party and others, hq shall enter that information in the appropriate register. B. The information as received shall be regarded as sufficient to suspect t h ~ commission of a cognizable offence and immediate steps should be taker to investigate the facts and circumstances leading to the death to ascertair what, if any, offence was committed and by whom. C. As the police officers belonging to the same Police Station are the members of the encounter party, it is appropriate that the cases are made over for investigation to some other independent investigation agency, such as State CID.