POLICE REFORMS

Police reforms have been a burning issue that has garnered a lot of momentum in the past decade. The highlights of police brutality and custodial torture has again brought into question the implementation of SC’s guidelines on Police Reforms in India. The unsympathetic attitude of the police force towards the underprivileged and the looming corruption within the system demands urgent police reforms. With the crimes and criminals evolving the public expectations from police have increased. In order to achieve its primary objective of maintenance of law and order, police reforms at every department level are needed. This has been recognized by various high courts and Supreme Court of India time and again and have acknowledged the State and Central government’s lackadaisical approach towards this issue.

BRIEF HISTORY OF POLICE REFORMS:

• The police system of India can be traced to the colonial era when the Police Act of 1861 was enacted after the sepoy mutiny of 1857. This act was pursued even after independence
• Since independence there have been various attempts towards a systematic reformation of the police force in India. The first attempt was made in 1902 when the second Police Commission headed by A.H.L. Fraser was formed. It unfortunately affirmed the 1861 Act. As per Section 3 of the 1861 Act, ‘Police’ was made a State subject which finds mention under the Seventh Schedule of our Constitution giving exclusive power to states to govern police
• Pursuant to us gaining independence, the government saw the misuse of police powers against the citizens and felt the need to introduce reforms since the act had become redundant towards the prevailing conditions of India. This led to formation of various committees/commissions for making recommendations regarding police reforms

NOTABLE COMMITTEES/COMMISSIONS ON POLICE REFORMS:

• National Police Commission (1978-82) – This commission was formed to look into the problems with the police system as an aftermath to the abuse of police during the emergency period. The commission further recommended amending the Code of Criminal procedure 1973

• Ribeiro Committee – On the directions of the Supreme Court of India in the case of Prakash Singh vs Union of India the committee filed its recommendations. The SC while deciding the case issued 7 directives towards implementation of police reforms by the respective states. The same will be discussed later

• Padmanabhaiah Committee on restructuring of Police (2000) – The recommendations of this committee was towards reinforcing the recruitment, training, tenure, public awareness and involvement in crime prevention, recruitment of police personnel, police patrolling on national and state highways etc
•  Malimath Committee on reforms in Criminal Justice System (2002-03) –  The Malimath Committee recommended improving the police infrastructure. Setting up forensic science labs and narco analysis bureaus with state of the art tools. An important recommendation was to separate the investigation wing from the law and order wing in the police stations

• Police Act Drafting Committee (Soli Sorabjee Committee) – This committee is known for drafting the Model Police Act ,2006 with the view to bring functional autonomy, encouraging professionalism and accountability

• Committee on drafting new model police act – As per a PIB release dated 8th March 2016, the Government has constituted a Committee to draft a new Model Police Act, 2015 after reviewing the act published in 2006 in line with the changing realities. The revised Model Police Bill ,2015 has been placed in the public domain for scrutiny and constructive comments

DIRECTIVES ON POLICE REFORMS AND EFFORTS TOWARDS ITS IMPLEMENTATION

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court in 2015 observed that the Judiciary is a major stakeholder in the process of police reforms as the scientific investigation by trained persons was an essential ingredient of the criminal justice system.

This came in view of the Supreme Court order of 2006, in the case of Prakash Singh & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors, wherein the Court had issued 7 directives to kick-start the reformation program.

The 7 directives of the Supreme Court were:

• Constitution of a State Security Commission (SSC)
• Fixed 2-year tenure of Director General of Police
• 2-year tenure for all SPs and SHOs
• Separate investigation wing and Law & Order wing
• Set up Police Establishment Boards
• Set up police complaints authorities at the State and District level
• Set up a national security commission at the center level

Karnataka High Court

The High Court while observing the importance of the investigative arm of the police force stressed and reiterated the need for enhancing investigation through special training. The court also observed that bifurcating investigation from regular law and order would enhance the accountability on specific departments/wings and will lead to a much more effective and credible investigation.

Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court recently issued directions to the DGP of UP to issue a circular/order with guidelines for specialized training of all Investigating Officers through training sessions catering to the effective manner in which investigations are to be carried out.

Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court while reiterating the Supreme Court directives also said that there was immediate need for bifurcating the investigating arm from the regular law and order arm of the police agencies. The court observed that “though maintaining law and order is an important part of the police duty, the investigating arm cannot be compromised.”

MAJOR REASONS FOR IMMEDIATE POLICE REFORMS:

• Understaffing and Overburdening: India records poor police to public ratio with almost 137 police personnel per lakh persons which is way below the UN recommended standard of 222 police per lakh persons
• Lack of Infrastructure and Scarcity of Resources: Basic facilities like toilets and drinking water are not available in one out of every ten police stations so imagining a high tech police station is still too far-fetched
• Corruption: The police personnel are made to work under harsh inhuman conditions which makes them apathetic towards the problems of the general public. Furthermore, little to no financial incentive leads to a lot of corruption
• No Transparency or Accountability: The lack of transparency or accountability in the police system makes everything disorganized and unprofessional

VARIOUS PILS MOVED SEEKING IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICE REFORMS:

Recently there have been many instances of custodial violence which has sparked nationwide outrage. Pursuant to such instances, there is an immediate need for the implementation of Police Reforms. Many Public Interest Litigations have been moved in High Courts and the Supreme Court of India raising this issue. For instance, a PIL seeking police reforms has been filed in Bombay High Court which specifically stated that “The State of Maharashtra has a very low police population ratio, with only 145 police personnel sanctioned for a 1,00,000 population as against the United Nations recommended norm of a minimum police strength of 222 per 100000 population.”A PIL filed in Supreme Court sought expeditious implementation of the Model Police Act-2006 since it is “not only necessary to ensure effective impartial independent complete and comprehensive investigation but also essential to instill confidence in victim families and the public at large. It is unfortunate that the Central and State Government made no serious attempt to implement it hence this prerogative writ petition under Article 32 for implementation of Model Police Act-2006.”

CONCLUSION

As we have seen there is a public outcry that acknowledges the fact that police reform is the need of the hour. The model act must be enacted immediately with proper guidelines in order to revamp the criminal justice system. But, for that to happen the political will must be strong in order to realize this goal. Through the procurement of modern weapons, investing in infrastructure and training of police personnel, ensuring basic amenities in all the police stations will be the stepping stones towards attaining the ultimate goal. Read about the topic on the recent changes in the police force and how the crime rate in each state has been affected after the COVID-19 lockdown.