Justice A. N. Mulla’s pungent observation, although half-a-century old, is still the hot favourite of votaries of civil liberties and human rights. He brushed aside the criticism of the wholesale condemnation by asserting, “As regards the complaint that the remarks are all too sweeping in character, there is a presumption that the evil is not equally sweeping. If, out of these two, anyone can be said to be more extensive and sweeping, it is the evil itself and not the observation.”

His description does an injustice to an institution that has served the country well in good and bad days as a first line of defence against lawless elements and anti-national forces undermining the nation’s stability and security. No doubt, the effectiveness and credibility of the police have taken a beating in the last few decades, just as in the case of every other institution, including the judiciary. This is because the country’s ethos itself has been vitiated by a steep fall across the board in standards of rectitude, accountability, public-spiritedness and impartiality.

It must be remembered that the police is constantly exposed to the seamy side of life and subjected to unseemly pulls and pressures by the governing class and powerful vested interests. It is but natural for some of the dirt to rub off on them.

It is a happy augury that most State Governments, egged on by the Supreme Court, have brought in comprehensive legislation to replace the archaic Police Act of 1861 on which the duties and functions of the police were hitherto based. The new legislative framework is meant to incorporate the directives of the Supreme Court contained in its landmark judgment in Prakash Singh vs Union of India aimed at freeing the police from political interference and control and enhancing their independence and efficiency.

The centrepiece of the framework is the State Security Commission with eminent, independent members, including the Leader of the Opposition, to oversee and evaluate the performance of the police, give policy and functional directions and keep the police out of the influence and pressure of the State Governments, by taking decisions on career prospects away from the hands of the Ministers.

It is not that all State Governments have complied with all the criteria laid down by the Supreme Court. They have certainly tried to circumvent or dilute the Apex Court’s directives in a variety of ways, and have laid themselves open to being cited for contempt. However tardy or fitful the compliance, a big push has been given to the process of revamping the police in tune with the imperatives of democracy and the rule of law so that it functions as a result-oriented and people-friendly force.

One important reform that has not figured in the Supreme Court’s judgment or in the nation-wide debate on the subject has to do with the heads of the Intelligence Bureau, Central Bureau of Investigation and their counterparts in States. These posts have so far been reserved exclusively for police officers. The persons heading these agencies should be endowed with all-encompassing vision, nimbleness of mind, wide-ranging intellectual gifts and independent judgment.

They should, in short, be versatile personalities capable of fresh thinking and providing inspirational leadership by both accomplishments and example. It is essential to throw open appointments to the posts to achievers of eminence and erudition from outside the police.

B. S. RAGHAVAN

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