HRF Seeks Judicial Probe into Gade Sai Krishna Custodial Death

Vijayawada:Human Rights Forum (HRF) on Thursday demanded that the NTR district administration withdraw its decision to appoint the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), Vijayawada, to inquire into the alleged custodial death of Gade Sai Krishna.

The forum contended that such an inquiry should be conducted only by a judicial magistrate.

In a representation submitted to NTR district collector G. Lakshmisha on Thursday, HRF Andhra Pradesh state general secretary Y. Rajesh and state secretary G. Rohith contended that Section 196(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) mandates that inquiries into custodial deaths be conducted by a judicial magistrate.

Given this directive, they maintained that assigning the inquiry instead to an executive magistrate would undermine the independence of the investigation.

The HRF leaders said Section 3(1) of the BNSS distinguishes a judicial magistrate from an executive magistrate. They asserted that the appointment of the RDO to make an inquiry is inconsistent with provisions of the law.

In this regard, they referred to a May 14, 2026 judgment of the Jharkhand High Court in Md. Mumtaz Ansari vs. State of Jharkhand case. According to HRF leaders, the judgment rules that inquiries into custodial deaths should be conducted by a judicial magistrate.

HRF’s Rajesh and Rohith further cited the National Human Rights Commission's 2020 proceedings and Union Home Ministry’s guidelines, which they said require the states to follow the judicial inquiry norms in custodial death cases.

The HRF leaders said a petition seeking a judicial inquiry has already been filed before the Additional First Class Judicial Magistrate, Vijayawada. They reiterated that the district collector withdraw the order and ensure that the inquiry is conducted in accordance with the BNSS.