Introduction In the English Common Law, a practice needs to have existed “since time immemorial” to be eligible for the status of custom.1 With “time immemorial” being dated at 1189 AD, few, if any, practices in India satisfy this threshold test. Had “being in furtherance of public policy” not been an additional criterion, however, one may be forgiven for believing that the age-old tradition of the Indian police to extract confessions from accused persons or persons in their custody through third-degree methods qualifies for that exalted status. The propensity of law enforcers in our country to abuse their powers has been documented only too well in several reports of the Law Commission of India,2 and acknowledged in innumerable judicial decisions over the years.3 It is for this reason that, broadly speaking, confe ....