NEW DELHI: In a landmark verdict on May 1, the Supreme Court held that without the permission of a magistrate, handcuffs or other letters should not be ‘forced’ on a prison convicted or under trial, while lodged in jail or while in transit from one jail 0 another or from jail to court and back.
Making it clear to all the police and prison authorities in the country to obey the aforementioned directives meticulously the Division Bench of Justice Kuldip Singh and Justice Venkatachala further warned them that “violation of any of these directions issued by us by any rank of police in the country or a member of Jail authorities shall be summarily punishable under Contempt of Courts Act, apart from other penal consequences under law.”
The judges also directed that the couples of their order should be sent to the Union Home Ministry and Home Secretaries of all states and union territories for compliance.
The Apex Court’s significant order ‘came in the wake of a Loffler petition” moved by the Citizen for Democracy President, Kuldip Nayar, pointing to his visit a Government Hospital in Guwahati, late in 1995, wherein he had observed seven TADA under trials crowded in a small room and handcuffed to the beds. This was despite armed guards being deployed outside the locker room.
Referring to the above incident, the Judges said “we are of the view that there is no basis whatsoever for drawing an inference the seven detainees who were lodged inside the ward of a hospital were likely to escape from the custody. The antecedent of the detainees is not known. There if nothing in the record to show that they are prone to violence.”
The Apex Court stated, “We declare, direct and stay down as a rule that handcuffs of other fetters shall not be forced on a prisoner convicted or under trial while lodged in a jail anywhere in the country or while transportation on in transit from one jail to another or from jail to court and back.”
Article extracted from this publication >> May 5, 1995
