An appeal was filed in the high court on Friday seeking intervention against police allegedly parading accused persons in public in their underwear with ropes tied around their waists.
Advocate Sabyasachi Chatterjee moved the appeal before the bench of Justice Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee, describing the police action as “illegal”.
The matter is likely to come up for hearing on June 5.
The petition follows a series of incidents in which accused persons were allegedly paraded by police. In the first case, Kolkata Police paraded four men at the busy Park Circus crossing with ropes around their waists. The men were accused of pelting stones at police during a protest at the Park Circus seven-point crossing. Around 200 people had gathered there to protest the government’s demolition of allegedly illegal structures.
Days later, Howrah police were seen parading an alleged gangster in his underwear and vest with a rope tied around his waist. The practice was subsequently reported from other districts as well.
Several lawyers and human rights activists have termed the practice “illegal”.
“No one can humiliate an accused. The police can only produce the accused before a court. It is for the court to decide whether to send them to police remand or judicial custody. The police have no power to violate the human rights of an accused in any manner,” rights activist Sujato Bhadra said.
Bhadra added: “It was absolutely degrading to see an accused being paraded in his underwear with an officer holding a rope around his waist. Even tying an accused with a rope is illegal in most circumstances. Supreme Court guidelines restrict the use of handcuffs except in cases where there is a high risk of escape.”
He said such public parading amounts to abuse of power and “custodial torture”.
Calcutta High Court advocate and senior CPM leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya also criticised the practice. “Strict action must be taken against Trinamool’s goons. But parading someone on the streets with a rope tied around the waist, before any judicial process begins, reflects a horrific medieval mindset.”
Sources said several human rights bodies have taken up the issue and approached the state human rights commission, citing at least two recent instances.
Asked why four accused men were paraded in Park Circus, a senior Kolkata Police officer said: “The idea was to send a strong message to others so they would not repeat the same offence. We also reconstructed the crime.”
