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| Time to make policing transparent | | |
- By Joginder Singh
In a landmark judgment on police reforms, last week the Supreme Court directed the states to constitute a state security commission to be headed by the chief minister or home minister, with the DGP of the state as its ex-officio secretary. The Supreme Court also laid down that "The DGP shall be selected by the state government from amongst the three seniormost officers of the department who have been empanelled for promotion to that rank by the Union Public Service Commission on the basis of their length of service, very good record and range of experience." Once a DGP is selected, he is supposed to have a minimum tenure of at least two years, irrespective of his date of superannuation.
The court also directed a fixed tenure of two years for IGPs, superintendents of police and even the station house officer (SHO) in charge of a police station, unless "cogent reasons" warrant their removal midway.
Police reforms have been more than overdue for over 100 years. The British who had fathered the Indian police system and the present Police Act in 1861, set up a commission in 1902-1903, which observed that, "There can be no doubt that the police force throughout the country is in a most unsatisfactory condition, that abuses are common everywhere, that this involves great injury to the people and discredit to the government, and that radical reforms are urgently necessary." But the British never had police reforms as their priority. They were in India to rule and so the matter was left there. Thirty years after independence, the government set up a police commission under the late Dharam Vira, which held that, "In public estimate, the police appear as an agency more to implement and enforce the objectives of the government in power, as distinct from enforcing laws as such as an independent and impartial agency. The dividing line between the objectives of the government in power as such on one side, and the interests and expectations of the ruling political party on the other side, gets blurred in actual practice."
A number of committees and subcommittees were set up to examine the reports of the police commission, and almost all of them unanimously recommended that reforms were essential. In fact, renowned criminologist Prof. David Bayley says, "In India today, a dual system of criminal justice has grown up, the one of the law and the other of politics. With respect at least to the police, decisions made by the police officials, about the application of law, are frequently subject to partisan review or direction by the elected representatives. People accused of crimes have got into the habit of appealing to political figures for remission from the law. Police officials throughout India have grown accustomed to calculating the likely political effect of any enforcement action they contemplate."
The police has been used to further partisan ends, as the following note submitted by the home ministry to the Conference of Chief Ministers and Home Ministers a few years ago would show: "There is a feeling in all states that interference not only in the matter of postings and transfers, but also in the matter of arrests, investigations and filing of charge-sheets is widespread. The principal grievance of the policeman is that if there is any unwillingness to comply with unlawful or improper suggestions, the persons concerned are harassed or humiliated."
The note observed that the government of India would like to impress upon the chief ministers "to ensure that there is no unlawful interference in the exercise of statutory powers. Secondly, in matters of postings and transfers, states should seek to restore leadership and effectiveness of the official hierarchy, with a view to ensure that the requisite rapport between the officers and men is not eroded." At the end of the deliberations of this conference, the participants agreed that the "problem arising out of interference will bear effective solutions at the political level."
Transfers had become an industry as the following statistics from one of the biggest states, Uttar Pradesh would show: Mayawati set a record in 1997 by transferring over 1,400 civil and police officers in six months of her rule. Kalyan Singh transferred 521 officials in 1991-1992 and the SP BSP government headed by Mulayam Singh transferred 814 officials in 1993-1995.
In his first letter to the chief ministers, in July 2004, the present Prime Minister said, "Maintenance of law and order is critical in providing an atmosphere conducive to economic development and social harmony. I urge you to ensure stability of tenure to officials in key positions in order to ensure effective administration and proper delivery of public services,"But the states, which have become states within the state, kept on merrily playing their favourite game of transfers as industry.
The reality is that the politicians ruling the states and the Centre have always been loath to shed control of the police, because when they hold the reins of control, they can use it to further their own interests and for brow-beating their opponents.
As reforming the police system would not necessarily result in votes, nobody was interested in improving it. However, one Prime Minister, however honest and sincere, cannot transform the police. So he and the people of India should be thankful to the Supreme Court for doing something which nobody has been willing to do in these 59 years of independence.
However, a word of caution must be voiced here: It is not enough to insulate the police from political pressures. It is equally important to make its functioning transparent and accountable, as these are integral to good governance and sustainable development. In their absence, corruption and mismanagement are bound to wreak havoc. The mechanism of redressing people’s grievances through the Police Complaints Authority needs to be stronger and more powerful than the police. If this is not done, all efforts to improve the police system would be wasted.
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