LIFESTYLE
It is sad that more than 60 years after independence, Indian police is governed by the regressive Police Act of 1861, which was enacted by the British to subjugate locals in the aftermath of the 1857 revolt.
According to Sankar Sen, a retired IPS officer from the Orissa cadre, the story of police reforms in India is one of missed opportunities and half-hearted attempts that have always sidestepped essential structural reforms.
The intriguing title, Enforcing Police Accountability Through Civilian Oversight, becomes clearer as you read the book. By ‘oversight’, Sen means not ‘an omission’ but ‘overseeing’. This, in a nutshell, is Sen’s mantra for police reforms: the police have to be made accountable through civilian supervision.
It is unfortunate that in India, even 60 years after independence, the Police Act of 1861 — a colonial Act intended to serve the interest of foreign rulers — governs the organisation, structure and culture of the police.
This is despite far-reaching changes in the social, economic and cultural spheres over the past century and a half. This Act was enacted by the British to subjugate locals in the aftermath of the bloody uprising of 1857, also called the First War of Independence (the author prefers the British label, Sepoy Mutiny). Sen says that this malaise is seen in all the South Asian countries — most of them have police laws based on the 1861 Act, with no importance being given to community support or local accountability.
Ironically, the same British never had such undemocratic laws for its own police. The British police traditionally enjoyed public confidence and respect; the friendly Bobby was not a tool in the hands of the politicians. The latest reforms in the UK saw the introduction of nine principles of policing, out of which seven are related to police-community structures.
Sen, who has held various distinguished posts such as director of the National Police Academy, Hyderabad, and director general (investigation) of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), defines democratic policing as one based on the concept of the police as protector of citizen’s rights and rule of law, while ensuring their safety and security.
According to Sen, democratic policing requires that the police act within the boundaries of the law, that it is accountable to democratic structures and the community, and that it is transparent in its activities.
In India, however, control over the police is exercised by politicians, both at the state and central government levels. Sen finds this at variance with the idea that India is meant to be a functioning democracy. He echoes Kripal Dhillon, who wrote in Police And Politics In India that “the major crime codes, laws of evidence and the entire judicial system are all frozen in time and hopelessly out of tune with contemporary theories of crime control, order management and dispensation of justice.”
American writer Dr David Bayley (author of Patterns Of Policing) is extensively quoted throughout the book: “India, which would have been expected to transform the organisation of the police rapidly after independence has kept exactly the same system which the British created in 1861. The control mechanism of British Raj has survived and been invigorated by a new political dispensation.”
Sen dissects the Police Act thoroughly to point out that the law is hopelessly outdated and ought to have been buried in the dustbins of history. Not surprisingly, there is a huge gap in establishing some form of public and community participation in the work of the police.
Sen sifts through the various attempts by state governments (under the Constitution, police is a state subject) at police reforms, and finds that they have never approached the core issues of police autonomy and accountability. The first serious attempt came as a response to the police excesses of the Emergency, in 1977, with the setting up of a National Police Commission (NPC) by the Janata government.
The Shah Commission of that time passed severe strictures in respect of the illegal and illegitimate use of the police by the politicians in power during the Emergency. The NPC made three key recommendations: insulate the police from political pressure, police officials should have fixed tenure after a posting and not have to fear transfers, and constitution of state security commissions. This is nowhere near realisation today.
The writer is a lawyer and human rights activist
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