Front Page

‘Handcuffing is gross violation of human rights’

Udupi: The handcuffing of chairman and director of Chitra Publications Pvt Ltd. B.V. Seetaram by the police has shocked not only journalists, but many others.

Mr. Seetaram was brought in handcuffs, tied to a chain held by a policeman, from the District Government Hospital to the District Court Complex here. Journalists in the city were taken aback at the humiliating treatment meted out to a senior colleague.

Mr. Seetaram’s advocate Shashikanth Shetty said bringing the accused handcuffed to court was a “gross violation of human rights”.

He said the Supreme Court had made the following observation in its judgment in the Citizens for Democracy v/s State of Assam case (AIR 1996, Page 2193): “Handcuffing and chaining in public degrades and puts to shame finer sensibilities, and is a slur on our culture. Handcuffing shall be shunned as violative of human dignity within and without prison.”

This judgment was delivered by Justice Kuldip Singh and Justice N. Venkatachala. The court also made a reference to the earlier judgments of the Supreme Court (AIR 1980 Page 1535 and AIR 1978 SC Page 1675) to establish that the law was binding on all concerned and any violation or circumvention shall attract provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act, apart from other penal consequences under law.

The copy of this judgment had been sent to the Union Government, Union Ministry of Home Affairs, and to the governments of all States and Union Territories through their respective Home Secretaries.

“In utter violation of this judgment, the police handcuffed Mr. Seetaram and produced him before court today (Monday). I have seen robbers and thieves being brought to court without handcuffs”, Mr. Shetty said.

A senior police officer of the district, speaking on condition of anonymity, said handcuffing was done only in case of hardcore criminals or when the accused had a previous record of escaping or there was a genuine apprehension that he would escape. “It is not done in case of normal persons,” the official added. President of the Dakshina Kannada unit of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) P.B. D’sa called the handcuffing of Mr. Seetaram a “disgrace to democracy”.

“Only dangerous criminals are handcuffed. This is violative of the Supreme Court’s directions and human rights,” he said.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu