POLICE REFORMS INITIATIVES

Common Cause has always believed that police reforms constitute the spearhead of the campaign for governance reforms. The common man has to interact with the police on a daily basis in the course of carrying out his multifarious activities. He also looks up to the police for ensuring the security of his life and property and upholding the rule of law. One would readily agree that the common man’s interaction with the police is far from satisfactory and that his expectation of protection of the rule of law is more often than not belied. The police has also lost its credibility on account of its subservience to the dominant socio-political class and the alliance of some of its elements with organized crime. As a result, proper functioning of democratic institutions, which is predicated on the rule of law, has been jeopardized.

It was against this backdrop that Common Cause joined hands with Mr. Prakash Singh, Former Director General, BSF, in filing a petition in the Supreme Court for bringing about a total revamp of the police system in the country. This led to the landmark judgment of September 26, 2006, in which the Supreme Court gave seven clear and time-bound directions to the state governments and the Union Government for ensuring the functional economy and public accountability of the police. The past issues of this journal have kept the readers informed of the developments in regard to their implementation. Regrettably, the spirit of the Supreme Court directions has, by and large, been ignored by most of the states as well as the Union, while some of the smaller states, particularly in the North East, have conformed to the letter of the directions.

During the pendency of the public interest litigation mentioned above, the Government of India had constituted a Police Act Drafting Committee headed by the eminent jurist, Mr. Soli Sorabjee, to draft a new legislation to replace the colonial law of 1861, which largely governs policing in the country. The scope of the Model Police Act prepared by the Soli Sorabjee Committee is much wider than the Supreme Court directions, as it encompasses all the functional aspects of the police system, down to the cutting edge level. The directions of the Supreme Court had also taken into account the provisions of the interim report of the PADC.

The endeavour of Common Cause has been to facilitate the emergence of a national consensus for expeditious implementation of the directions of the Supreme Court and for the enactment of contemporary police laws inspired by the Model Police Act and the formulations of other expert bodies, such as the Second Administration Reforms Commission. To this end, Common Cause addressed the following letter to the Union Home Minister, requesting him to introduce a new police bill for the Union Territories in the last session of the 14th Lok Sabha.

Dear Mr. Chidambaram,
It is universally recognized that the Police Act of 1861, which, in a large measure, continues to govern policing in India, is out of sync with the needs of a modern, pluralist democracy. Designed to serve the ends of a colonial administration, this anachronic statute has reduced the police to the status of a handmaiden of the establishment in authority. In this context, the appointment by your Ministry in September 2005 of the Soli Sorabji Committee to draft a new law for contemporary needs was widely welcomed.

The Committee submitted its report in October 2006, shortly after the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court in Prakash Singh & others Vs UOI & others, which prescribed a series of measures designed to ensure the functional autonomy and accountability of the police. Unfortunately, the time bound directions of the Supreme Court on police reforms have largely remained unimplemented. The same fate has befallen the Model Police Act drafted by the Soli Sorabji Committee.

It would be pertinent to recall here that in his reply to Rajya Sabha Question Number 19 on enactment of New Police Act, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs had stated on November 22, 2006, that the Union Government was considering the introduction of a Bill to cover police administration in the Union Territories to replace the earlier enactments. As for the states, they could decide in their discretion whether to enact their own legislations to replace the Police Act on the lines of the new Union Territories legislation, or otherwise. However, more than two years later, in his reply to Lok Sabha unstarred Question No. 3380, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs stated on December 23, 2008 that the Model Police Act formulated by the expert committee after extensive consultations was sent to all states for consideration and appropriate action as “Police” is a state subject. This is unexceptionable, but the Minister of State went on to add that there was no proposal before the Government for “enactment” of the Model Police Act. The reply very conveniently omitted any mention of the Union Territories, which are under the control of the Central Government, even though the question had specifically sought information regarding the views of the Union Territory Administrations on the Model Police Act.

The tragic events of November 26, 2008, which exposed the inadequacies of our policing and emergency response mechanisms, have underlined the urgency of police reforms, as emphasized by the Prime Minister in his address to the nation on November 27, 2008. It will be a great pity if this Government fails to take any concrete action towards enactment of the Model Police Act atleast in relation to the Union Territories. The forthcoming session of the Parliament offers your Ministry the last opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to police reforms by taking the first step towards the reform of the police function in the Union Territories and introducing a Bill on the lines of the Model Police Act in the Rajya Sabha. This would also prepare the ground for enactment of similar legislations by the states. Common Cause will keenly await your response.

With best regards,
Yours sincerely,
(Kamal Kant Jaswal)
Director

Mr. P. Chidambaram,
Home Minister, Government of India,
North Block, New Delhi – 110001

Common Cause also issued the following appeal to all recognized national and state political parties, urging them to forge a national consensus on police reforms and make a firm commitment in regard to the essential components of the reforms agenda in their election manifestos for the General Election to the 15th Lok Sabha.

February 18, 2008

Dear

The recent terrorist strike in Mumbai has once again underlined the deficiencies of our intelligence and security agencies and the mechanisms for emergency response. That the situation of internal security and public order in the country is in a precarious state has been obvious for a long time. Yet, the Union and State governments have been neglecting the imperative tasks of restructuring and modernizing their police forces and instituting arrangements for inter-agency coordination, intelligence gathering and information sharing to enable the police forces to confront the emerging challenges to internal security and publi order. All this while, the sovereign function of policing has been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent that the common man has lost his sense of security and of the protection of law. Evidently, a demoralized and compromised police that is brazenly used to further partisans and personal objectives of the establishment in authority is in no position to provide protection to the citizens. The archaic Police Act of 1861, which, in a large measure, continues to govern policing in India, is out of sync with the needs of the modern, pluralist democracy.

The aversion to police reforms has been a trait common to governments of widely different political persuasions and affiliations. The Union Government and the State governments - with a few honourable exceptions, notably in the North East - have employed all their ingenuity to avoid the implementation of the binding directions of the Supreme Court in the landmark case of Prakash Singh (September 2006), which laid down a series of pragmatic measures for ensuring the functional autonomy and accountability of the police. The Model Police Act, drafted by an expert committee set up by the Central government under the chairmanship of Mr. Soli Sorabjee has been gathering dust in the Ministry of Home Affairs for over two years. This state of affairs cannot continue indefinitely. The intensity of the spontaneous outpouring of public anger and outrage in the wake of the tragic events of November 26, 2008 has demonstrated that the people of India will no longer countenance any procrastination over police reforms.

The people of India demand that illegitimate interference in all aspects of policing should cease forthwith. The police must become a truly independent and effective public service and subserve the rule of law. The abysmal conditions of service and working conditions of the constabulary and its unmet operational needs should be addressed expeditiously. The systems of recruitment, training and human resource development must be organized on professional lines. Institutional arrangements to ensure accountability for the core functions of policing and to punish wrongdoing, bias and corruption ought to be put in place, as enjoined by the Supreme Court.

It is high time the political parties seeking a popular mandate in the forthcoming elections to the Lok Sabha took note of this new ground reality. Against this backdrop, we would request you to declare the commitment of your party to police reforms and undertake to forge a national consensus for the implementation of the directions of the Supreme Court on the subject and for the adoption of a contemporary police law incorporating the best features of the models proposed by Soli Sorabjee Committee and other expert bodies.

We have taken the liberty to suggest for your consideration the key elements of a programme for police reforms in the hope that you would incorporate them in your manifesto.

With warm regards,

Yours sincerely,
(Kamal Kant Jaswal)
Director

April - June 2009