CVC bats for police reforms

"Hardly a dozen states have brought about changes in policing laws to make them more democratic"

Ashwini Shrivastava / PTI | February 6, 2013



The Central Vigilance Commission today pitched for massive reforms in police forces saying that the 150-year-old Act governing them makes police an "agent of the government" rather than a law enforcing agency.

"Police as the foremost instrumentality of the State, is required to enforce the rule of law but the Police Act of 1861, which is still the backbone of policing in the country, makes the police an agent of the government and not an agent of the law," Vigilance Commissioner R Srikumar, a former IPS officer, said.

He rued that most of the states have failed to follow the Model Police Act, over 30 years after it was drafted by the National Police Commission.

"Six decades after Independence, four decades after the drafting of a Model Police Act by the National Police Commission and after several committees and commissions have endorsed the need for police reforms...

"Hardly a dozen out of the 30-odd states in the country have brought about any changes in the laws of policing to make it more democratic and an uphold the law, without any fear or favour," the Vigilance Commissioner told PTI in an interview.

Srikumar, who was part of a team which probed into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, also pitched for a Lokpal Act and a CBI Act to make law enforcing agencies more effective.

He lamented that changes were made in Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946, under which the CBI functions, in 2003 making it compulsory for government approval before launching a graft probe against a joint secretary-level officer and above.

"Police do not have any compunction in arresting a sleeping Baba or an octogenarian who stage a protest against corruption and ineffective mechanisms. Not only do we not have a Lokpal Act, we also do not have a CBI Act.

"Although the maxim ought to be 'no matter how high you are, the law is above you', still the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946 was amended in 2003 to make it mandatory to get government concurrence before a corruption case can be taken up against an officer of the level of joint secretary and above," he said, suggesting a change in the process.

Comments

 

Other News

Gandhian movement after Gandhi failed: Ram Guha

The Gandhian movement in India, after Gandhi’s death, failed, says Ramachandra Guha, and blames Vinoba Bhave for it. But the movement found new, fertile grounds around the world and succeeded in bringing about a change in South Africa, the US and elsewhere. It is high time it returned home. Of cour

When religion, politics and Bollywood come together

Tavleen Singh, noted journalist and political commentator, has turned to fiction, with her debut novel ‘The Actor’ (HaperCollins India). Set in the near future, it has a superstar, Amit Singh, turning to politics, when the political landscape is dominated by prime minister Guru Gaynendraj

Cabinet approves setting up of Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority

The union cabinet, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), called Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA), to strengthen research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment within the broad domains of Transp

Why foundational literacy and numeracy is key to school education

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) are often described as the building blocks of education. Yet, their significance goes well beyond a child’s ability to read a sentence, write a response or solve a basic mathematical problem. These foundational skills shape how children understand the world,

When police data becomes the algorithm

For decades, policing has followed a familiar sequence: a crime occurs, the police respond, an investigation produces records and those records become part of the institutional memory of the criminal justice system. Artificial intelligence is beginning to alter that sequence. Instead of merely recording

Before India voted, the framers worried about the referee

“We are making a Constitution forever and not only for today.” Shibban Lal Saksena said this in the Constituent Assembly on June 15, 1949. He was warning that a ruling party might one day choose a loyalist to run India’s elections. Seventy-seven years later, the Supreme Court is wrestli

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter