The high court on Friday sought a report from the state government seeking clarification under which rule police have been parading arrested accused persons in public with ropes around their waists.
While hearing a petition challenging the practice of parading accused persons in public with ropes around their waists, a division bench of Justices Jay Sengupta and Smita Das De directed the state government to file a report within three weeks.
The petitioner was granted seven days to submit a counter-affidavit after the state’s response is filed.
The court is likely to hear the matter in four weeks, sources said.
The lawyer representing the petitioner said that the practice was “illegal” and had been barred by the Supreme Court.
“The police cannot do that even to a convict. In these cases, the people are just
accused, and their crime has yet to be proved,” said the lawyer representing the
petitioner.
He added that this practice started only after the BJP government took charge.
The lawyer representing the state said that “spontaneous public fury was forcing the police to do it”.
The court did not appear to accept the logic. It asked the state government to submit the report citing the reason and rule under which the police have started this practice.
There have been multiple instances across the state where an accused has been paraded in public with a rope around the waist, and sometimes in their inner garments. Cops hold the ropes as they walk in what rights activists have called a dehumanising gesture.
According to sources, such instances have been reported in Calcutta, Howrah, Bishnupur and other pockets of the state.
Multiple PILs and prayers have been submitted to the high court.