Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act, 2022

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THE TORTURE AND CUSTODIAL DEATH (PREVENTION AND 
PUNISHMENT) ACT, 2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CONTENTS 
1. Short title, extent and commencement 
2. Definitions 
3. Inadmissibility of statement extracted through torture 
4. Custody of females 
5. Investigation of offences 
6. Trial of offences 
7. Intimation to the concerned Government and transfer of suspension of public official 
8. Punishment for torture 
9. Punishment for custodial death 
10. Punishment for custodial rape 
11. Punishment for filing malafide complaints 
12. Appeals 
13. Time limit for investigation, trial and appeal 
14. Special protection 
15. Act not to prejudice civil remedies 
16. Overriding effect 
17. Provisions of the Code to apply 
 

 
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18. Duties of the Government 
19. Removal of difficulties 
20. Power to make rules 
 
 
  
 
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THE TORTURE AND CUSTODIAL DEATH (PREVENTION AND 
PUNISHMENT) ACT, 2022 
ACT NO. XXVIII OF 2022 
[1st November, 2022] 
 
An Act to provide protection to a person during custody from all acts of torture perpetrated by public 
officials 
WHEREAS, Pakistan is a party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and other 
Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishments 1984 and it is imperative to make law for 
its effective implementation; 
AND WHEREAS, the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan guarantees the dignity 
of man as mentioned in Article 14; 
AND WHEREAS, it is expedient to enact a law for the prevention and criminali zation of all 
acts of torture; 
It is hereby enacted as follows:— 
1. Short title, extent and commencement.  — (1) This Act may be called the Torture and 
Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act, 2022. 
2. It extends to the whole of Pakistan. 
3. It shall come into force at once. 
2. Definitions. — (1) In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context, 
 
(a) “Agency” means The Federal Investigation Agency constituted under the Federal 
Investigation Act, 1974 (VIII of 1975); 
(b) “Code” means the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V of 1898); 
(c) “complaint” means allegations made orally or in writing to the Agency that a public 
official or a person working in an official capacity has committed an offence under this 
Act; 
(d) “complainant” means any person filing a compl aint, upon having reliable information 
of the commission of an offence under this Act, or his representative as the case may 
be; 
(e) “concerned division” means the Ministry or depa rtment to which the business of the 
Act stands allocated; 
(f) “custody” includes all situations where a person is detained or deprived of his liberty 
by any person, including a public official or by any other person working in an official 
capacity irrespective of legality nature and any place of such detention. 
 
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Explanation-I.— It includes judicial custody and all forms of temporary and 
permanent restraint upon the movement of a person by law or by force or by other 
means; and 
Explanation-II.— A person shall be deemed to be in custody during search, arrest and 
seizure proceedings; 
(g) “cruel” or “inhuman” or “degrading treatment” means and includes any d eliberate or 
aggravated treatment inflicted by a public official or a person acting on his behalf 
against a person under their custody, causing suffering, gross humiliation or 
degradation of the person in custody; 
(h) “custodial death” means the death of a person while in custody, directly or indirectly 
caused by and attributable to acts of torture committed upon the deceased while in 
custody; 
Explanation-I.__ Custodial death includes death occurring in police, private or medical 
premises, in a pu blic place or in a police or other vehicle or in jail. It includes death 
occurring while a person is being arrested or taken into detention or being questioned; 
and 
Explanation-II__ Custodial death also includes all cases where the death of a person 
after his release from custody is directly caused by and may be substantially attributed 
to acts committed upon the deceased while in custody; 
(i) “custodial rape” means and includes any pe rson taking advantage of his position and 
committing rape or sexual abuse on a person in his custody or in custody of a public 
official subordinate to him; 
(j) “Government” means the Federal Government or the Provincial  Government, as the 
case may be; 
(k) “malafide complaint” means a complaint filed against any person, including a public 
official with malafide intentions or other ulterior motives or to harass such person or 
public official; 
(l) “person” shall have the same meaning as assigned thereto in section 11 of the Pakistan 
Penal Code, 1860 (Act XLV of 1860); 
(m) “public official” for the purpose of this Act means every person who holds any office 
by virtue of which he is empowered to place or keep any person in confinement, every 
officer of the Govern ment whose duty it is, as such officer , to prevent offences, to 
investigate, and to give information of offences. 
Explanation.— Wherever the words “Public official” occur, the y shall be understood 
as every person who is in actual possession of a public off ice, whatever legal defect 
there may be in that person’s right to hold that position; 
 
(n) “torture” means an act committed by which severe physical pain or physical suffering, 
is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third 
person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third perso n has 
 
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committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a 
third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or 
suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a 
public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or 
suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions; and 
 
(o) “victim” or “aggrieved person” means any person who alleges that an offence under 
this Act has been committed against him. 
 
(2) All the words and phrases used but not defined in this Act shall h ave the same meaning as 
defined in the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 (Act XLV of 1860). 
3. Inadmissibility of statement extracted through torture.— (1) Any statement, information 
or confession obtained by a public official as a result of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading  
treatment  shall  be  inadmissible  evidence in any proceedings against the person making it. 
(2) A public official who knowingly uses such information under sub-section (1) shall be liable 
for imprisonment which may not exceed one year or with fine which may not exceed hundred thousand 
rupees of both. 
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub -sections ( l) and (2), any information or 
confession obtained as a result of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment shall be admitted 
as evidence against a person accused of committing the offence of torture. These provision shall be in 
addition to the provisions of section 37 and 38 of the Qan oon-e-Shahdat, Order 1984 (P.O. No. X of 
1984). 
4. Custody of females. — (1) No female shall be detained in order to extract information 
regarding the whereabouts of  a  person  accused  of  any offence or to extract evidence from such 
female. 
(2) No female shall be taken or held in custody by a mal e except by a female public off icial 
lawfully authorized to do so. 
5. Investigation of offences.— (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for 
the time being in force, the Agency shall have the exclusive jurisdiction to investigate the complaints 
against any public officials who have committed offence under this Act: 
Provided that the Agency shall investigate the complaints under the supervision of National 
Commission for Human Rights. 
(2) If at any time, including during the grant of physical remand under the Code, the Magistrate 
has reasonable grounds to be1ieve that the offence under this Act is committed or a complaint of torture 
is lodged by the person in  custody, he shall order a medical examination and if the  results of such 
examination reveal infliction of torture, he shall notify the Agency to investigate such offence. 
 
(3) The Agency, while investigating the offences under this Act, shall have the same powers 
and shall fol1ow the same procedure as prescribed in the Federal Investigation Agency Act, 1974 (Act 
VIII of 1975) and the rules made thereunder. 
 
6. Trial of offences.— (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time 
being in force, the Court of Sessions shall have exclusive jurisdiction to try offences under this Act. 
 
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(2) No adjournment shall be granted during the trial save for the inter est of justice, provided 
that if such an adjournment is granted it shall be not more than thirty days. 
7. Intimation to the concerned Government and transfer of suspension of public official.__ 
(1) The Agency, while investigating a public official who is accused of an offence under this Act, shall 
within twenty -four hours of arrest, inform the competent authority to which the public official is 
accountable, of the nature of the proceedings against him. 
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, a public 
official when accused of an offence under this Act shall forthwith be suspended or transferred to a 
different location from the location in which the alleged offence was committed, after completion of a 
departmental enquiry within 7 days, giving a finding that there is prima facie evidence of commission 
of offence under this Act by the public official. 
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, a public 
official when convicted of an offence under this Act shall not perform any public duty unless acquitted 
by the appellate court. 
Explanation-I.—In this section, the “competent authority” shall mean the appointing authority 
as prescribed in the service rules of the relevant Government. 
Explanation-II.—It is clarified that this section, except s ub-section (3), shall only apply when 
a court of law finds a strong prima f acie evidence against a public official with regard to the 
commission of an offence under this Act. 
 
8. Punishment for torture .— Any public official who commits or abets or conspire s to 
commit torture shall be punished with the same punishment as prescribed for the type of harm provided 
in Chapter XVI of the Pakistan Penal Code. 
Explanation. — The offence under this section shall be cognizable, non -compoundable and 
non-bailable within the meaning of the Code. 
 
9. Punishment for custodial death.— Whoever commits or abets or conspires to commit the 
offence of custodial death, shall be punished with the same punishment as prescribed in section 302 of 
the Pakistan Penal Code. 
 
Explanation. — The offence under this section shall be cognizable, compoundable and non -
bailable within the meaning of the Code. 
 
10. Punishment for custodial rape .— Whoever commits or abets the offence of custodial 
rape, shall be dealt with and punished under the law and procedure for rape, and the provisions of this 
Act shall also be applicable to the accused, mutatis mutandis. 
 
Explanation.__ The offences under this section shall be cognizable, compoundable and non-
bailable within the meaning of the Code. 
 
 
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11. Punishment for filing malafide complaints.— Whoever files a malafide complaint shall, 
after it is established that the complaint was malafide, be punished with the same punishment as is 
prescribed under section 8 for the perpetrators under this Act. 
 
12. Appeals.— (1) An appeal against a conviction or acquittal of an offence under this Act 
shall be presented before the respective High Court within thirty days from the date on which copy of 
the order passed by the Court of Sessions is supplied to the appellant. 
(2) An appeal against conviction shall not be admitted  unless part of the amount, imposed in 
the form of fine as directed by the appellate court, is deposited in the court. 
13. Time limit for investiga tion, trial and appeal .— (1) The investigation of the offences 
under this Act shall be completed within thirty days from the date of submission of the complaint. 
 
(2) If the investigation of an offence under this Act is not completed within thirty days, the 
Agency shall call for a report for explaining the delay in completion of the investigation and if satisfied 
with the causes of delay, may  grant maximum five days for completion of the investigation or if the 
Agency is not satisfied with the causes of delay, may transfer the investigation to another investigating 
officer who shall take up and complete the investigation from the same stage where it was left by his 
predecessor. 
(3) If investigation of an offence is not completed with thirty days, the Agency shall also file 
an interim report before the Court of Session and the court may decide to initiate the trial on the basis 
of such information. 
(4) The trial of offences under this Act shall be completed within three weeks from the date of 
submission of challan before the relevant court. 
 
(5) The appeal against the offences under this Act shall be decided within thirty days from the 
date of filing of such appeal. 
14. Special protecti on.— (1) Any person, including the victim or complainant or any 
witnesses, who allege that he  requires  protection  from  a person accused of having committed an 
offence under this Act or from any of his associates, shall file a petition to the Court of Session in this 
regard. 
 
(2) The court receiving the petition, after giving notice to the concerned parties, shall hear the 
matter and pass an order on the petition within three days. 
(3) The court while disposing of such a petition as mentioned in sub - section (1) shall make 
such orders as deemed necessary and appropriate according to the facts and circumstances of the case. 
15. Act not to prejudice civil remedies .— Nothing in this Act sha ll prejudice the civil 
remedies available to the victim by virtue of any other law for the time being in force. 
16. Overriding effect.— The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything 
contained in any other law for the time being in force. 
17. Provisions of the Code to apply .— The provisions of the Code shall apply to the 
proceedings under this Act. 
 
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18. Duties of the Government.— The Government shall take all measures to ensure that the 
provisions of this Act are given wide publicity through media at regular intervals and; 
the relevant public officia ls are given periodic sensitization and  awareness training on the 
issues addressed in this Act. 
19. Removal of difficulties.— If any difficulty arises in the implementation of the provisions 
of this Act, the concerned division may make such orders, not inconsistent with the provisions of this 
Act, as may appear to it to be appropriate for removing such difficulty: 
Provided that no such order shall be made after t he expiry of a period of two years after the 
enactment of this Act. 
20. Power to ma ke rules .— The concerned division may, by notification in the official 
Gazette, make rules for the purpose of carrying out the objects and purposes of this Act. 
 
 
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RGN Date: 04-11-2025