§ Mr. WEDGWOODasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Government of India would so modify the definition of murder in the Indian Penal Code that it may include the cases of policemen who shall torture convicted or unconvicted persons or witnesses who did as the result of that torture?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for INDIA (Mr. Montagu)The definition of murder in the Penal Code makes guilty intention or guilty knowledge an essential element. It would be impossible to modify the definition so as to except a particular case from the general principle. Perhaps my hon. Friend's suggestion contemplates the creation of a new offence of constructive murder, to apply exclusively to policemen resorting to torture, and to render them liable to conviction for murder irrespective of the intention or knowledge. Such a departure from the accepted principles of British and Indian justice seems neither necessary nor practicable.