Previous Year Question

Article 20 of the Indian Constitution provides protection in respect of conviction for offences. It contains three major constitutional safeguards.

(a) Prohibition Against Torture

The prohibition against torture is not separately included in Article 20.

The Supreme Court, while interpreting the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21, has held that custodial torture and inhuman or degrading treatment are unconstitutional.

In D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal (1997), the Supreme Court issued important guidelines to prevent custodial torture and violence.

(b) Prohibition against Self Incrimination — Article 20(3)

According to Article 20(3), no person accused of an offence can be compelled to become a witness against himself.

This is known as Protection against Self-incrimination.

Its purpose is to protect an accused person from being compelled to provide evidence against himself.

(c) Ex-post Facto Law — Article 20(1)

According to Article 20(1), a person cannot be convicted for an act that was not an offence under the law in force when the act was committed.

Additionally, a person cannot be subjected to a punishment greater than that prescribed by the law in force at the time of committing the offence.

Thus, a criminal law enacted subsequently cannot be applied retrospectively to convict a person.

(d) Double Jeopardy Clause — Article 20(2)

According to Article 20(2), no person can be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once.

This protection is known as Double Jeopardy.

For this constitutional protection, both prosecution and punishment for the same offence are important requirements.

Thus, Article 20 includes protection against ex-post facto criminal laws, double jeopardy and self-incrimination. Protection against torture is primarily associated with the judicial interpretation of Article 21.