REDRAWING THE POLICE ADMINISTRATION

"If the foundation stone is crooked, the wall cannot be straight."
-Persian Philosopher

Colligating to the above quoted text, the prominent status of maintaining 'law and order' in the

conduct of a democracy can be very well established. The foundation of State is made of

rocks and mortar of security and protection, erosion of this will lead to the fall of the entire

State. With the Revolt of 1857 to the ushering of independence in1947, with a traditional Indian

society to the rise of prominent middle class, from one epoch to another, India has witnessed

developments in each and every sphere be it political, social, economic or

administrative. These developments have further been influenced and moulded in the global

environment with the rise of number of non-state institutions and human-centered approach

thereby, placing every agency to the critical assessment at the global phase. Police

performance in India have been in major limelight for many decades and now demanding

greater measure than at any time.
The administrative unit responsible for enforcement of law to maintain order of

community and internal regulation of State is referred to as 'Department of Police'. In most of

the developing countries, the organization and administration of this department is an attribute

of their colonial hangover. Similarly, in India, the Police System is basically extrapolated from

the British Police Act of 1861. Most of the State laws reflect this legislation of our colonial past

and thus inviting a huge criticism from every dimension of society.
But tracing down the history of India, one can find the roots of its origin during the

Mauryan Empire. Kautilya's arthashastra presents a vivid picture of Police administration. With

the passage of time, the departments were widened and during Mughal era, the kotwali system

emerged. The major phase of changes in this system started in the first hundred years of

British rule. Rules were modified to suit the imperial needs and assert the colonial

consolidation. One such step was the Police Act of 1861, which was mainly legislated in the

aftermath of 1857 and accentuated the objectives of colonial model and to serve the interests

of ruling administration. This act ignored the basic principles of policing i.e. accountability to

citizens, obligation to judicial review , preventing crime and wining the trust and confidence of

people rather only emphasized on repressive and coercive measures to strike terror in the

citizens to abide by law. This act subordinated the police to executive control and this practice

is evident in most of the State laws even after six decades of independence.
Post independence, the subject of maintaining law and order was placed in the State

list under article-246 of the constitution on India and a number of state laws have been

formulated such as Bombay Police Act(1951), Kerala Police act (1960), Karnataka Police

Act (1963) and so on. But each one of these act is a mere reflection of the police act 1861,

Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure or the Indian Evidence Act- 1872 and thus led

to steady deterioration of police administration in India.
There is a huge list of the causes of popular dissatisfaction against the Police . The

major one being the perception of people about police as 'cruel', rude, corrupt, partisan in

nature, 'inactive' if no pressure, 'criminals in uniform' and 'immoral. This view is not

individualistic rather towards the whole outdated police system. The dismal record of police in

investigating cases and successful prevention of crime has further aggravated the situation.

Moreover, the continuous influence of bureaucracy and politics in the functioning, investigating

of cases and preventing crimes has led to general perception of repelling away from

police .Citing the recent case of riots in Uttar Pradesh, reports revealed that the police

didnt take any action in fear of political conseqences. The administration of police being entirely

under bureaucratic hand which being politically influenced further create confusion about the

flow of authority and thus inability to act. In absence of any accountability and answerability,

the police acts arbitrarily and in its discretion under the umbrella of bureaucracy and politics.
The top-down rigid hierarchy structure gives less avenues of promotion and thus fails to attract

the youth of the country ,leaving a large amount of human development untapped. Also, The

custom of 'sahib' sitting in the office issuing orders to 'hawaldars' ,along with poor

arrangements for training, performance appraisals, shortage of resources, service conditions,

poor conditions etc. has led to low morale and motivation among employees esp. at lower

levels of organization.
Apart from these, the ecological effects of rising population, inflation, poor pay structures,

violent outbursts in protest, student and political activists, criminalization of politics and

administration, corruption, red-tapism further challenge their existence.

As Kiran Bedi has stated that,
Had our forefathers shown foresight in two areas, we would have been a different

country today, first population control and second. professional, independent and accountable

policing.

the need for a transparent, accountable and answerable police force is strongly due to the

level of harassment and disgust and disappointment people feel of the process of police. The

idea of inequality or community bias is prevalent in this system thus defining the basic

fundamental right of equality to the people. there is a stark contrast between the police treating

politicians, VIPs, ministers and the harsh, brutal victimization of poor, marginalized society.
with the increased level of awareness, civil society groups, RTI act and judicial review has

mobilized a larger section of society against this. The increasing need of an environment free from fear

and terror and conducive for realization of people's right led to a landmark judgment by the

supreme court in 2006 in Prakash Singh vs. Union of India.
SC restricted central and state governments to comply with a set of seven directives that laid

down mechanisms to start police reforms directives to achieve:
1-functional autonomy for police (security of tenure, streamlined appointment and transfer

processed, creation of buffer body between police and government).
2- Enhanced police accountability (both for organizational performance and individual

misconduct). According to the current statics only 14 states have either enacted the police act

or made changes to the existing ones as per the SC directives.
In 2006 Government of India formed a committee - Police Act Drafting Committee (PADC)

under the chairmanship of soli-sorabjee committee to draft a new model to guide State

governments adoption of new police laws. The Model Police Act submitted by this expert

committee is still not applied. The Act, incorporates several suggestions including creation of

state police board (for deciding on promotion and transfers of cops), ensure fixed tenure of

police chief. Measures like setting up of state security commission (to check political or

bureaucratic pressure on police); merit-based selection of state police chief from among three

senior most cops; giving them security of tenure; separate the investigation and law and order

functions of the police and setting up of police establishment board (deciding all transfers,

promotions, postings and other service related matters) are yet to see the light of day in

majority of the states.
A new term in frequent use these days is "democratic policing" i.e. police to be

Tranparent, accountable to law, protects human rights and serve community as its

representative rather than that of the political minds.
Good policing is a pre-requisite for efficient government and in a country like India, with a

diverse and cultural background, the fundamental needs of representative policing are

inevitable. The need for decentralization by taking initiative at the local levels i.e. Panchayats

and municipalities by setting us of a grievance redressal mechanism at each police office,

creation of an appellate authority in marginalized area and thus mobilizing and creating

awareness among the masses is required. Voluntary organizations can be set up to educate

people of their rights and duties towards county and inculcating a feeling of trust and

confidence within the police administration.
The police administration has to be separated from political influences and efficiently

regulated. efficient training programs for conduct and behavior with the masses, dealing

situations with ethical and moral decisions, conducting seminars at local levels for the

masses by each SHO in his are to win trust and faith of people in police organization can be

some measures, organising award ceremonies for able and efficient work can be conducted
Moreover, the officers of higher levels of this hierarchy should appear as the guiding leaders

so to boost the morale of the lower grade officers. Citing an example from Punjab police in

1980s, the police morale was low with the high rise of terrorist activities the then appointed

DGP started an operation "Night Domination" .He cited the specific areas and along with all

senior officials visited those areas. This involvement of officers in undertaking risk for their

duties and public good highly boosted the morale of police.
The perception of police neutrality and trust-worthiness has to be re-established via
empowerment, both within the services and outside via lokpal and lokayukts , efficient citizen charters etc. If that is done, one may be able to see a moral revolution in this country in one's lifetime.


Anjali

References

1. Indian Administration- Fadia and Fadia

2. Wikipedia

3. Human rights initiative.org