The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), working on the issue of better policing and police reform in India for nearly two decades, has urged that the Odisha Police Bill 2015, introduced in the State Assembly on February 16, is referred to an Assembly Select Committee for further review.
The CHRI on Wednesday also called on the State Government to invite a public debate on the type of policing and police service the people of the State want. While it is encouraging that Odisha is considering a new police legislation, the CHRI believes the process must be inclusive, participatory and guided by informed debate and discussion, and a Select Committee is a good mechanism to facilitate this. The CHRI fully supports the call for provision of draft Bills in Odia for legislators.
CHRI Director Maja Daruwala said, “Considering the public importance of police legislation, it will be a colossal mistake to hurriedly pass the Police Bill into law in the current Assembly session. We, therefore, urge the Chief Minister, all political parties and legislators to refer the Bill to a Select Committee of the Assembly for further discussion and review as well as initiate a participatory public consultation process across the State.”
Noting that the Police Bill is considerably good, the CHRI stated that amendments are needed in several areas, firstly to address deviations from the 2006 Supreme Court directives on police reform:
It wanted greater checks and balances in the process of selection of the DGP and lying down of security of tenure. Security of tenure for key police positions must be more clearly enshrined.
The CHRI further wanted that the State Security Commission needs more independent members and the processes to select and remove them have to be better stipulated, and the commission’s recommendations have to be made binding. The State-level Police Establishment Board has to be brought into compliance with the court’s directive
Amendments are also needed to maximise police accountability for misconduct and aligning the Bill’s provisions to existing penal sanctions, it said.