It is extremely upsetting that despite many committees and court directives calling for the need to implement police reforms, political will is lacking
In my last piece in The Pioneer, I had commented on some of the issues with the policing system in India and how, though there are structural issues and reforms that are required, there are certain steps that can be taken by the police leadership in the country to help improve the situation. In this column, I would like to discuss the major developments that have taken place in relation to police reforms in our country; examine some of the suggestions/recommendations that bear repetition and examination; and examine the current status of these reforms.
In 1903, the Indian Police Commission was tasked with reviewing the Police Act of 1861, which serves as the basis of police organisation in India. Commenting on the working of the police in India at that point in time, it noted that “the police force throughout the country is in a most unsatisfactory condition, that abuses are common everywhere, that this involves great injury to the people and discredit to the Government and that radical reforms are urgently necessary.” It is extremely upsetting that more than a century later, we have not moved the needle significantly further.
Over the last two decades, several attempts have been made to implement the process of police reform or at the very least to highlight the growing urgency to implement such reforms. In 1995, a retired Uttar Pradesh DGP, Prakash Singh filed a Public Interest litigation (PIl) in the Supreme Court making a case for the immediate need to institute police reforms. This case led to the Government constituting a committee under the chairmanship of Julio Ribeiro in 1998 to review this process. Since then, there have been a number of committees that have followed, including the Padmanabhaiah committee, the Malimath committee and the Soli Sorabjee committee. In addition to this, the Supreme Court issued directions in 2006 in relation to the PIl filed by Prakash Singh. This was followed by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission being instituted in 2007. All the bodies mentioned above have discussed some crucial reforms that have the potential to vastly improve the standard and quality of the police force in our country, some of these have been examined below.
Independence of police: The police forces operate within the ambit and control of political parties in power whether at the central or State level. It has been observed by the various committees (listed above) that often, the Government in power has abused its power and interfered with the working of the police, which has led to a situation where the police does not perform its duties in the independent manner it should and the Government in power uses the police as a tool to exert its influence. The obvious outcome of this lack of independence is that cases of police misconduct are coloured by the influence that may be exerted by the Government in power.
The need to establish an independent complaints authority that inquires into cases of police misconduct has been emphasised by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission and the Supreme Court as well. This independent complaints authority should consist of members who can operate as independent arbiters of the any alleged misconduct by the police. The United Kingdom, for example, established an ‘Independent Office for Police Conduct’, which consists of members who have been appointed by the crown as well as members appointed by the executive. The New York City police force too has a ‘Civilian Complaint Review Board’, which comprises of civilians who have been appointed by local Government bodies and the police commissioner to examine cases of alleged misconduct. The establishment of a similar independent oversights committee has been emphasised in the past and as per the Model Police Act which has been drafted by the Police Act Drafting Committee as well.
Presently, a number of States have not set up a State authority or a district level authority as directed by the Supreme Court. Furthermore, reports seem to indicate that the composition of the authorities that have been constituted are at variance with what has been prescribed under the Model Police Act, 2006 and by the Supreme Court.
Investigation techniques and investment in police infrastructure: In my previous columns, I discussed the importance of improving investigation techniques that have been employed by the police forces. On the occurrence of any crime, the first line of defence is the police officer on the ground. This is because the police is required to inter alia secure the evidence, identify a culprit and assist in prosecuting the culprit in a court of law. In India, however, the current status of investigation techniques employed by the police forces needs a serious overhaul. The crime rate in our country has increased by 28 per cent over the last decade. Additionally, conviction rate has remained a dismal 47 per cent as well. The primary reason for these shocking numbers is that the types of crimes are getting more and more complex (for example certain cyber crimes and white collar crimes). Another reason for this is the poor training that is being provided to police officers and the minimal resources that are being expended towards building adequate forensic infrastructure.
Since there is a lack of both training and infrastructure, often crimes are not investigated as per the required standards but instead the case of the prosecution is often based on oral evidence, which has been obtained, or through physical evidence that has been heavily tampered. The law Commission and the Second Administrative Reforms Commission has recognised these and highlighted these shortcomings and have noted that the police officers are overburdened and ill equipped to conduct investigations in a professional manner. Therefore, the reforms suggested include training the police officers on modern investigative techniques as well as on legal issues that will help the police achieve a higher conviction rate. What is also required is the establishment of specialised investigative units within the police that solely deal with investigation of crimes as opposed to law and order issues.
On the issue of other police infrastructure, multiple observations by the Bureau of Police Report and Development and reports by the CAG indicate that our police forces lack the required weaponry as well as adequate number of police vehicles and personnel. This coupled with the lack of investment in creating infrastructure for forensic examination has crippled the police force in a number of ways. What is even more disappointing, however, is the fact that the funds that have been allocated for modernisation of the State police force have been consistently underutilised. This is particularly perplexing because these are instances where the funds are available, the requirement is there, but there is a lack of initiative on behalf of the Government and to some extent the police itself.
These issues that I have highlighted above are not novel issues that are being discussed for the first time. Numerous reports and innumerable articles have been written on the importance of implementing police reforms. Sadly, however, since my time in the police service almost two decades ago instead of moving with the times, the Indian police force still seems firmly rooted in the past and the observations made in 1903 sadly remain just as pertinent today.
(The writer, Jharkhand PCC president, is a former MP and IPS officer. Views expressed are personal)