Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has said that the act of torturing or harassing relatives of an accused by the police is a “colonial practice” which violates the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.The court restrained police authorities from summoning the petitioners to police station or detaining them or threatening them on any pretext in connection with the FIR.The division bench comprising Justice JJ Munir and Justice Tarun Saxena was hearing a criminal writ petition filed by a woman alleging harassment by the Prayagraj police.The petitioner claimed that her son was accused of coaxing a girl to elope with him, and to trace the couple, the police were summoning her and other members of the family to the police station, forcing them to sit throughout the day, and let them go in the evening.The court observed that in contemporary times, rather than intimidating his relatives, the police should use scientific methods to trace the accused.The court, in its order dated May 8, directed the deputy commissioner of police, Yamunapar, Prayagraj, the station house officer, Karchhana, Yamunapar, and the Prayagraj police commissionerate to file affidavits, explaining under what circumstances the petitioners are being summoned on a daily basis.
