Day 11 – Q 5.The police force needs to be freed from the stranglehold pf the executive and given functional autonomy to enforce the rule of law. Comment.
5. The police force needs to be freed from the stranglehold pf the executive and given functional autonomy to enforce the rule of law. Comment. (Internal Security)
पुलिस बल को कार्यकारी के प्राधान्य से मुक्त किया जाना चाहिए और कानून के शासन को लागू करने के लिए कार्यात्मक स्वायत्तता दी जानी चाहिए। टिप्पणी करें।
An independent and efficient police is necessary for ensuring progress of a nation in a peaceful environment.
In India police is under works under the authority of the executive. This not only undermines the independence of the judiciary but also impacts its efficiency and rule of law in the nation.
To address these issues various expert bodies have been constituted over the years. Its chronology as follows-
- National Police commission 1977-81
- Rubeiro Committee 1998
- Padmanabhaiah committee 2000
- Malimath committee 2002-03
- Police Act drafting committee 2005
- Supreme Court directions in Prakash Singh vs Union of India 2006
- Second ARC 2007
- Police Act drafting committee-II 2015
Need for Reforms
- Police-Public relations
- Police requires the confidence, cooperation and support of the community to prevent crime and disorder. A police-public relation is an important concern in effective policing. The Second Administrative Reforms Commission has noted that police-public relations is in an unsatisfactory state because people view the police as corrupt, inefficient, politically partisan and unresponsive.
- An independent police can function in non-partisan manner and can be trusted by the people in politically sensitive issues.
- Police accountability
- Police forces have the authority to exercise force to enforce laws and maintain law and order in a state. However, this power may be misused in several ways. To check against such abuse of power, various countries have adopted safeguards, such as accountability of the police through independent police oversight authorities
- Crime Investigation
- The crime per lakh population had increased by 28% over the last decade (2005-2015).Whereas the actual strength of police force in various states is 137 police per lakh people, which is against the sanctioned strength and United Nation recommend strength of 181 police per lakh and 222 police per lakh people respectively.
- 2nd ARC highlighted that extra obligations such as traffic management, disaster rescue and removal of encroachments lead to overburdening of the police force.
- Crime investigation and Underreporting of crime in India
- In 2015, the conviction rate for crimes recorded under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 was 47%. The Law Commission has observed that one of the reasons behind this is the poor quality of investigations.
- Poor Police infrastructure
- Modern policing requires a strong communication support, state-of-art or modern weapons, and a high degree of mobility. The CAG has noted shortcomings on several of these fronts.
Prakash Singh vs Union of India
- Constitute a State Security Commission in every state that will lay down policy for police functioning, evaluate police performance, and ensure that state governments do not exercise unwarranted influence on the police.
- Constitute a Police Establishment Board in every state that will decide postings, transfers and promotions for officers below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police, and make recommendations to the state government for officers of higher ranks.
- Constitute Police Complaints Authorities at the state and district levels to inquire into allegations of serious misconduct and abuse of power by police personnel.
- Provide a minimum tenure of at least two years for the DGP and other key police officers within the state forces
- Ensure that the DGP of state police is appointed from amongst three senior-most officers who have been empanelled for the promotion by the Union Public Service Commission on the basis of length of service, good record and experience.
- Separate the investigating police from the law and order police to ensure speedier investigation, better expertise and improved rapport with the people.
- Constitute a National Security Commission to shortlist the candidates for appointment as Chiefs of the central armed police forces.
Intended Benefits
- Greater trust of people in the functioning of the police
- Aimed to achieve SMART Policing i.e. Strict and Sensitive, Modern and Mobile, Alert and Accountable, Reliable and responsive, Tech savvy and Trained.
- It will be catalyst for security challenges of Left Wing Extremism, Jammu and Kashmir and various fraction groups of North East.
- Upgradation of police infrastructure, forensic science laboratories, institutions and the equipment available with them to plug critical gaps in the criminal justice system.
Various reforms have been introduced in the police forms over the years; however, they are discrete and state-wise. Time has come for complete overhaul of the system, so that the trust of the people could be maintained.
P.S: Please incorporate above points along with examples to write a good answer.
Best Answer:
