32 i CIVIL LIBERTIES B] Custodial Death, Rape and Torture 4.24 It has been a major priority of the Commission, ever since it was established, to curb custodial violence. Towards this objective, the Commission issued guidelines in December 1993 stating that it must be informed of any incident of custodial death or rape within 24 hours of any such occurrence. Information on custodial deaths was to be followed by a post-mortem report, a videography report on the post-mortem examination, an inquest report, a magisterial enquiry report, a chemical analysis report etc. 4.25 The Commission is gratified to note that, in accordance with its guidelines, the agencies of the State have been prompt, by and large, in informing the Commission whenever such incidents have occurred. An effort has, however, sometimes been made by a State Government and facilitated by a State Human Rights Commission to use section 36(1) of the Act, to block the jurisdiction of the National Human Rights Commission by asserting that it has taken cognisance of a custodial death prior to this Commission, despite the fact that the report of the State authorities on the incident had been sent to the National Commission in accordance with its guidelines of 1993, (which were issued long before any State Commission came into existence) and were merely copied to the State Commission. The latter also often lack the facilities that the National Commission has to scrutinise reports of custodial deaths. Such unnecessary complications clearly underline the need for the amendment of section 36(1) of the Act along the lines already recommended by the Commission. It has also been observed that the subsequent reports needed for the scrutiny of such incidents have often been delayed. To avoid inordinate delay, the Commission issued fresh guidelines in December 2001 enjoining the States to send the required reports within two months of the incident and that these reports were to include, inter alia, a post-mortem report that should be submitted in accordance with a new format that had been devised by the Commission. 4.26 In order to streamline the existing procedure relating to the scrutiny of incidents of custodial violence, the Commission created a separate cell within the Investigation Division. This cell was entrusted with the task of obtaining the relevant documents from the concerned authorities and then critically analysing that material with a view to assisting the Commission in deciding whether any further action was required to be taken in respect of such incidents. NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION