The vast majority of cases reported to the Special Rapporteur concerned deaths in police or military custody caused by torture and ill-treatment. Torture is said to be used on a routine basis throughout the country to extract a confession or information from suspected criminals. In States where there are armed opposition groups advocating greater autonomy or independence(Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab) or improvement of social and economic conditions (especially a Maoist group known as Naxalites in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradhesh and Maharashtra), torture is also said to be used to deter people from political activities or in reprisal for acts of such groups.

...has been reported to the Special Rapporteur that those responsible for human rights violations act in a climate of virtual impunity. In the States of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, and in other north-eastern States, the security forces benefit from specific legislation exempting them from prosecution. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of July 1990 provides that "no prosecution, suit, or other legal proceeding shall be instituted, except with the previous sanction of the Central Government, against any person in respect of anything done or purported to be done in the exercise of the powers conferred by this Act (sect. 6). These powers include the use of force, including lethal force, "against any person who is acting in contravention of any law or order for the time being in force ..." (sect. 4).

 With regard to a large number of cases, it was alleged that no investigations into the killings had been opened. In some cases disciplinary measures against security forces personnel were reported, but none of them was said to have been brought before a court. The Government of India informed the Special Rapporteur that even in States so affected by terrorism and insurgency as Jammu and Kashmir, to which most of the allegations related, the law enforcement officials performed their obligations in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials. Every allegation of human rights violations was scrupulously investigated and most of them were found inaccurate, highly exaggerated or deliberately false. On the rare occasions when allegation had been borne out, disciplinary action was taken against those held responsible. Action, including imprisonment, had been taken against more than 230 officers and members of the security forces, and investigations and prosecutions were in process against several others. In the majority of the cases transmitted by the Special Rapporteur, the Government informed him that no such incidents had been reported to the competent authorities, while in a number of others investigations had been initiated (27 November 1992).