Exploring the Right to Protection Against Torture in the International Human Rights Law and Indian Law with a Security Exceptionalism

The right to life is the most basic right available to any individual. This right is not merely about having a life, rather it is about living a life with dignity. Human dignity is a fundamental value which none of us should ever have to compromise upon. The act of torture impedes upon the right to a dignified life in the most grotesque manner. Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) , torture and other cruel and inhuman treatment have been prohibited. Further the Domestic law of India gives paramount importance to the Right to Life provided under the Constitution of India. The principle of prohibition of torture is not merely a right, but has been given the status of non-derogable right in the international domain. It carries the special status of a jus cogens principle. The paper aims to examine the inconsistency in the enforcement of the international standards due to the lack of a domestic framework for the same in India.