A 1962-batch IPS officer, Amiya Bhusan Tripathy held many important positions during his chequered police administrative career, ultimately becoming as Director General of Police (DGP). Credited for his pioneering role in introducing Information Technology into the police administration while he was Director in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, he also remains as a fearless advocate for police reforms and modernisation. As IG, Prisons, he introduced sweeping reforms in prisons and correctional services in Odisha. Having had his tenure as Director General of Vigilance and DGP, he had witnessed bitter power struggle under two rival Chief Ministers of his days. He also had a long innings in the National Human Rights Commission. After his superannuation, he has been associated with many civil society activities in the areas like human rights, electoral reforms, regional disparity, higher education and heritage conservation. Presently, he is the Chairman of the Ravenshaw University Development Trust, Advisor of the National Election Watch (Odisha Branch) and State convenor of the INTACH. Author of many books, the recent release of his book Policing the Nation has been received with aplomb among leaders and elite circles. In an interview to The Pioneer, he spoke to Sugyan Choudhury from his Surya Nagar residence.
You are basically a scholar and a writer. What attracted you to the IPS and not a career in academicsIJ
I sat for the competitive examinations while I was still a student. I had not completed my studies when I was selected for the IPS. I wanted to be in an All India Service cadre. Had I not been selected for an All India cadre, I would have gone for teaching. I would not have opted for any other services.
long, long back, the Dharamveer Commission on police administration gave its recommendations, but why has they not yet been implementedIJ
The Dharamveer Commission was constituted in 1977 after the Emergency and after the defeat of Indira Gandhi when Morarji Desai took over. The first commission had been set up in 1902. The Dharamveer Commission gave its report to the Government in 1980. It recommended on very many important issues like having fixed tenure for SP, DGP, etc., etc. for establishment of a State Security Commission for making police independent, many vital observations on investigation, prosecution. But no Government, either Janata or Congress, has taken any keen interest in following the recommendations, as a result of which a PIl was filed in the Supreme Court by a retired IPS officer, Prakash Singh, Vs Union Government in 2006. The court has given directions for a model Police Act, for having fixed tenure for DG and SP, and the like. But unfortunately, the Government set up another commission under Solee Sorabjee, who observed that since police is a State subject and not a Union subject, States should frame laws for police. Consequently, various States enacted various laws, for which the uniformity of police rule has been jeopardised. The entire police administration in the country was governed on the 1851 rule, but the uniformity has been broken. That is the point which worries me most. Regarding the fixed tenure of police chiefs, the Supreme Court held that a DG should have a two-year fixed term, but the present Odisha Government has changed as many as three DGs during its tenure. The Dharamveer Commission had offered a model police code for the entire country to make police more effective, corruption-free and modernised.
How can the police be freed from the corroding in influence of the political systemIJ
There should not be any political interference in the police administration. Particularly, it is not desirable in the investigation cases, since investigation is a quasi-judicial process. But unfortunately, that has not happened yet. As I told you earlier, the police commission has recommended for creation of a State Security Commission at the State level and a National Security Commission at the national level. In a State Security Commission, the Chief Minister would be the chairman while leader of Opposition and other members would be there with DGP as the secretary. I am told but I am not sure that the present Odisha Government has omitted leader of Opposition while submitting the plan for constituting the commission during the last Assembly session. If that has happened then constitution of a security commission becomes meaningless.
What has happened to the idea of division of labour in the police force as recommended by the police commissionIJ
Yes, the police commission has recommended that the police force be separated into two different entities such as law and order enforcing agency and investigating agency. The Police Act envisages that the police has two duties to perform, investigation of criminal cases and collection of criminal intelligence. These are the two fundamental duties of a police officer. But while the officer is busy in investigation, he is called to perform VIP duties and handle large scale law and order situations. Therefore, the police’s primary job of investigation of cases suffers from casualty. You can see very well that when a CM goes, there is a cavalcade of cars attending to his itinerary and duties. The police security manual for CM needs to be examined. Attending to VIP and VVIP duties have put extra burden on the police. For separation of police force, we need a lot of infrastructure and police personnel and that is yet to happen.
After the establishment of Commissionerate of Police in Bhubaneswar, the crime rate has not fallen. You had stated earlier that Bhubaneswar is the crime capital of the country; do you adhere to this view nowIJ
I observed this basing on statistics that Bhubaneswar was the crime capital of the county. It was probably twenty years back when I was in charge of CID Crime Branch as Additional DG. The crime rate is considered not by the total number of crimes committed per annum but by the number of crimes committed per one lakh of population. Going by that data, Bhubaneswar reported the highest number of criminal cases in the country, and that is on record. Since the present data are not known to me, I cannot say whether it still continues to be the city of highest criminal incidents. But I can certainly say it continues to report as one of the highest crime happening cities of the country. I stick to that view.
Do you think that CRPC and IPC are valid todayIJ
I think there are no shortcomings in both the CrPC and IPC. If at all there are any, there is a standing law commission at the Centre to look into it. The CrPC has been amended, modified many times, but the IPC deals with various types of crimes, and the commission is to take care of it. I think they are still relevant and have no shortcomings.
Does the police manual stand relevantIJ
I think the police manual has become outdated; it needs a thorough overhauling.
Our police force is lagging behind their counterparts in other developed countries. How can we overcome this scenarioIJ
Police force comprises two angles, i.e, in terms of numerical strength and capacity building. We are lagging in both. In Odisha, the police strength is below the national average. The modernisation process is not taking place in an integrated way. There should be a holistic development in terms of IT, computer infrastructure building, modern gadgets, vehicles and the like on the Goverment of India guideline.
How can our police’s attitude be changed towards the general publicIJ
You see trainings are always imparted at various levels starting from the Constable, Sub-Inspector and even IPS officers. Besides, there are refresher courses as well. They have been taught to treat with care to women, children and weaker people. But in my opinion, an IPS officer’s leadership is very much indispensable in this regard to inspire the lower rungs of police for a people-friendly relationship. Probably, the IPS leadership response is not coming as it should be by now.
The Bhubaneswar traffic system seems to be in a shambles. What do you thinkIJ
It is an integrated approach which should be done by Works Department, BMC and police. There are no adequate spaces for running of vehicles. You are constructing a flyover, but the trucks, cars cannot run over it. You have to create accompanying conditions for passage of vehicles while flyovers and other infrastructures are made. Cars are parked on the road itself. Sometimes buildings stand on the road. You cannot blame a constable to control the traffic. There are no safe passages for pedestrians and senior people. As a citizen, I feel Bhubaneswar needs a lot of remedial changes for an ideal traffic system.
There are also invisible complaints. When people are in distress, they come to the police, but it is sad that their complaints are not registered. Senior officers have to become responsive in this regard. For registration of cases, police should not turn volte-face by not registering the complaints which are very unfortunate.