VIII. Handcuffing Prem Shankar Shukla V Delhi Administration 1980 SCC 526 A. Background Prem Shankar Shukla - an undertrial prisoner at Tihar Jail - sent a telegram to the Supreme Court that he and some other prisoners were being forcibly handcuffed when they were escorted from prison to the courts. Shukla pleaded that routine handcuffing and chaining of prisoners was continuing despite the Supreme Court directive in Sunil Batra’ s case that fetters/ handcuffs should only be used if a person exhibits a credible tendency for violence or escape. B. Observations by the Supreme Court Using handcuffs and fetters [chains] on prisoners violates the guarantee of basic human dignity, which is part of our constitutional culture, the Supreme Court said. This practice does not stand the test of articles 14 [Equality before law], 19 [Fundamental Freedoms] and 21 [Right to Life and Personal Liberty]. To bind a man hand and foot; fetter his limbs with hoops of steel; shuffle him along in the streets; and to stand him for hours in the courts, is to torture him; defile his dignity; vulgarise society; and foul the soul of our constitutional culture.Strongly denouncing handcuffing of prisoners as a matter of routine, the Supreme Court said that to manacle a man is more than to mortify him; it is to dehumanise him; and therefore to violate his very personhood. They rejected the argument of the State that handcuffs are necessary to prevent prisoners from escaping. Insurance against escape does not compulsorily require handcuffing there are other methods whereby an escort can keep safe custody of a detenu [detained person] without the indignity and cruelty implicit in handcuffs and other iron contraptions. The Supreme Court asserted that even orders from superiors are not a valid justification for handcuffing a person. Constitutional rights cannot be suspended under the garb of following orders issued by a superior officer. There must be reasonable grounds to believe the prisoner is so dangerous and desperate that s/he cannot be kept in control except by handcuffing. Manual on Human Rights for Police Officers 79