National Police commission...

At end of Emergency regime in 1977, the Government constituted the Second National Police Commission to suggest ways & means to make our Police force across the country a real Service; pro-people, free of the political stranglehold & accountable to the Law of the land & not to the politicians in power. It was a bitter lesson learnt by the Nation about the Police which was being governed by an archaic Act enacted by a foreign power ruling the country interested in perpetuating its own rule. Such a police force respected the Ruler only & not the people. PEOPLE did not matter. It was insensitive to the aspirations of a Nation & perceived as slave drivers. Governments in the Independent India did precious little to change that Act or amend suitably that law. The intent was clear & the consequences were for every one to see in their full glory during the Emergency.

The VICTIMS of these repercussions themselves ordered formation of the National Police Commission headed by late Dharma Vir, a retired officer of the elite Indian Civil Service; a bureaucrat of outstanding reputation. The Nation waited with hope for a positive out come which would ‘humanise’ the police & make it a friend of the people accountable to law & law alone freeing from the shackles of political interference.

The Commission to its credit did deliver. It produced a comprehensible document recommending sweeping police reforms along with the path forward suggested clearly. It was a report any commission in the world would be proud of.

The reforms suggested included secure tenure for police officers in executive posts guaranteeing freedom of operation to the police to work as per law. In any case the courts supervise the work of the police in our system. In the U K, the form of democracy that we decided to follow, this independence of police working is called Independence of Constabulary. This is the concept that endears the police to the people in that country. ‘Bobby’ is a respected institution & a role model for other forces in the democratic world.

Law in India is a state subject. Administration of police & maintenance of Law & Order is the domain of the State governments; the Centre, as per the Constitution, is not supposed to interfere.

(Note- Rizi, laws are enacted either by the Parliament or the State Legislature. As per the Constitution there are three lists of Laws: a) Central list listing laws concerning national subjects like Defense, Foreign Affairs, etc, b) State list like civic administration, Local self governments, Education, Law & Order, etc. Some subjects are common. There is a third list called Concurrent list. This list has some common subjects. Either the Center or the states can legislate on those laws but the laws made therein by the Center shall prevail. Also, a Parliamentary democracy function a lot by conventions in addition to laws, if there are no specific laws is available on the subject. This note I have added just as a background.)

Expectedly, no State government was keen to implement this vital police reforms on one ground or the other. Even the Central Government did not implement this reform in the Union Territories administered by the Center itself. All successive governments of different shades & colours steered clear of letting police to operate independently as per law. Instead of considering the police as the arm of the law, it was treated as the STRONG ARM of the party in power, always, by every government. They feel they will be helpless to tackle their governance if the Police were not under their total control. They want Police to be accountable (Read dependent) on their mercy exercised through the potent power of transfers & postings! An assured tenure system & an independent selection process would defeat this design.

The right thinking officers & some respected leaders of the force, present & retired, ably backed by Activist NGOs, kept on demanding vociferously this implementation. However, the people in power are made of sterner stuff! They would not let go!!

Ultimately, after a protected legal battle, the Apex Court directed the state and the central governments to implement this vital police reform in 2006. Despite that it has been ducked effectively so far. Actually, the Stares have asked for revision of this order on grounds of impracticability. The Babus controlling the Governments are past masters at producing powerful arguments to substantiate such claims.

Feeble attempts to take terrorism on gets attention when some people get killed, which is happening more frequently. However, it resumes its appointed place on the back benches soon & the magnanimous society tends to forget the trauma once again. Blame is apportioned for the failure to the police & the Intelligence agencies squarely. The punching bag awaits another round to be offered as the fodder! And the ones to be accounted for remain free to criticise the police & the famous “foreign” hand. And the water keeps flowing down the Ganges.

Less said the better about the living & working conditions of a police man. The training resources are pathetic. All reports suggesting reforms & improvements are accumulating dust in various government offices in every state in the country. Every government in the states is interested in transfers & postings of the officers. This is true not only of the police department but all other departments where the government ‘servants’ can “Service” the people! It is a well known secret and the weapon of transfers is used effectively to tame the non compliant ones!

And a society that can not hold the value it preaches individually & collectively violates them without batting an eyelid when it comes to self interest. Meanwhile, the Police machinery is expected to uphold these “Noble Values” in & for an increasingly valueless society.

WHO CARES?!