The Hindu Business Line : <I>Police reforms </I>

The Supreme Court judgment of September 22, 2006, has sparked a national debate on police reforms aimed at removing any scope of political or other extraneous interference and influence in discharging its functions. Broadly, it calls for the following:

A State Security Commission (SSC), with the Chief Minister at the head, and including as members persons cutting across political party lines and eminent non-officials of unimpeachable credentials to frame policies and give directions to ensure that the police always acts in conformity with the principles of rule of law and the letter and spirit of the Constitution;

A Police Establishment Board (PEB) with the DGP at the head and senior police officers as members to decide all matters relating to postings, promotions, transfers and so on;

A Police Complaints Authority (PCA) in each district headed by a retired District Judge to inquire into complaints against the police of and up to the rank of Deputy Superintendent, and another at the State level headed by a retired Judge of the High Court/Supreme Court, to go into complaints against officers of the rank of the Superintendents of the Police and above, the presiding officer being chosen in both cases from out of a panel proposed by the Chief Justice of the State.

These are long over-due measures. The requirement contained in the judgment that the SCB's report should be placed before the State legislature is highly salutary, and will enable the elected representatives to play an effective role as the people's watchdogs. The Government should accept the recommendations of the PEB as final without any further meddling. To strengthen the hands of the PCA, it should be empowered to launch disciplinary proceedings and criminal cases straightaway without having to refer its findings to Government for further action. The stipulations for providing for a minimum tenure of service for the DGP and other top officials in the police hierarchy and for separating the law and order responsibilities from crime investigation are also unexceptionable.

Safeguards and controls

However, freeing the police from political interference and manipulation should be subject to appropriate safeguards and controls. Otherwise, any uniformed service, apt to be on a short fuse, can become an engine of oppression. Some of the suggested steps to inculcate the needed degree of accountability and spirit of public service are given below:

The practice of the annual performance evaluation reports on the SPs/DSPs being written by Collectors and on the DGP/IGP/DIGs by the Chief Secretary should be revived.

Taking stringent action on strictures by Courts on deficiencies and omissions in investigation and conduct of cases should be made the special responsibility of the Chief Secretary who should send his report to the SCB.

Other than the PCA, there should be a separate high-power Authority to deal specially with brutalities, use of excessive force, custodial deaths and other misuse of authority by the police.

Departmental proceedings and criminal cases involving the police should be akin to court martial procedures, completed within the shortest possible time of, say, four to six months.

Civil society organisations and individuals should be free to organise meetings, demonstrations and the like in public places after informing the police (to avoid duplication, possibility of clashes and the like), without any need to take prior permission.

A special squad should be constituted for dealing with offences pertaining to social ills (dowry, marriage disputes, untouchability, public nuisance and so on) taking them out of the purview of regular police.

B. S. RAGHAVAN

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