New Delhi: The Rajasthan High Court slammed police authorities Tuesday for allegedly photographing people after arresting them and circulating their pictures on social media, saying the practice was “deeply disturbing” and violated their fundamental right to dignity.
Justice Farjand Ali, while granting relief to a lawyer whose photograph was circulated after the arrest, said that even more “egregious” were the allegations that, in some cases, the accused people were forced to strip and “made to sit in a humiliating state, clad only in undergarments” while photographs were taken and disseminated.
“The grievance raised before this court discloses a deeply disturbing practice, which, according to the petitioner, has now become alarmingly routine,” the court said in its 20 January ruling.
It added that police authorities in the state routinely photographed women too.
The court said photographing the accused and circulating their photos in the media was an “arbitrary, illegal” act that reflected “unbridled caprice” and was wholly unbecoming of a force entrusted with the protection of human rights.
It added that the accused was “merely an accused and not a convict” and the constitutional presumption of innocence remained intact unless overturned by a finding of guilt after a “fair trial”.
Any action that publicly parades an accused as a culprit, before adjudication, strikes at the very root of constitutional morality and the rule of law, the court said.
Pointing to Article 21 of the Constitution, which stipulates the fundamental right to life, the court said that every individual has the right to live with dignity, honour and self-respect. “The right to dignity does not evaporate upon arrest,” the court said.
It added that even if someone is accused of an offence, it does not mean they can be forced to strip or be photographed in a degrading condition.
This, coupled with the act of circulating these photographs in newspapers and on social media, amounts to “institutional humiliation and a direct assault on human dignity”, the court said.
The case
The observations came on a plea filed by eight people who said that police often compelled arrestees to sit at the entrance of police stations, photographed them and circulated the photos widely through newspapers and social media platforms.
During the hearing, the petitioners presented photographs of several people, including unmarried young girls, whose photos were being circulated on media platforms, leading the public to assume that they were criminals without any judicial determination of guilt by a court of law.
They also said that this was done solely to malign their reputation.
The court, in its order, said that the issues raised in the plea reflected a serious and systemic threat to the petitioners’ fundamental right to live with dignity.
According to the Rajasthan High Court’s order, the damage done by such actions is “neither speculative nor transient”. Once such photographs are released into the digital and public domain, the stigma becomes permanent, the court said.
It added that in case of women, the consequences can be especially devastating since it affects their marriage prospects, social acceptance and overall well-being.
“Even if the accused is ultimately acquitted, the scar inflicted upon reputation and social standing is often irreparable,” the court said.
Even statutes like the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, its predecessor Code of Criminal Procedure or the Police Act, do not have any provision that allows for such an action.
The petitioner’s lawyer told the court that such practices had become rampant and cited a recent Dainik Bhaskar report on the arrest of a practising advocate in Jodhpur, whose photo in front of a police station was circulated.
This, the lawyer argued, gravely tarnished his image and violated his right to live with dignity.
What the court ruled
After taking notice of the concerns placed before it and the newspaper reports, the court said the case raised serious concerns about the fundamental rights of citizens, pointing out instances of arrestees made to strip down to their undergarments.
“Such conduct is plainly inhuman, degrading and violative of the bare minimum of human rights guaranteed to every individual, irrespective of the accusations against him,” it noted.
Saying that such actions struck at the root of human rights and amounted to a clear infraction of constitutional guarantees, the court asked the Rajasthan government to file its response to the plea. It also directed the Jaisalmer superintendent of police to file an affidavit responding to the allegations.
In the meantime, the court also directed the Jaisalmer SP to ensure the immediate removal of such photographs from web portals, social media handles and other platforms.
It also directed the Jodhpur commissioner of police to remove photographs of the lawyer who had approached the court within 24 hours. The matter will be heard again on 28 January.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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