It’s freedom to police lathis
Courts has been issuing directions time and again to bring in reforms into police department. But common people have been losing trust in the system with every passing day. Custody deaths would turn into questions of efficiency of the police, and the media would report police brutality as and when they happened. But now, the police have adopted a soft approach towards Sangh Parivar goondas and other rowdies, in some ways encouraging them to carry out their activities.
There are charges against the police that they entrust their difficult jobs into the hands of rowdies. Finest example of this can be seen in instances of mob lynching cases that occur with the aid of police. With this, the reforms initiated by the government have reached another level altogether. And this has created fear in people’s minds that the entire police department is going through a phase that will leave it incorrigible.
India has a very dark history of custody deaths and the incidents that lead to that. And how many culprits have been held in such cases is something that needs to be studied with great interest. There are proper policies that indicate how the police should treat the accused and the crime. They are accountable at every step. The Supreme Court suggested reforms that need to be made in 2006. But the state and central governments have ignored it. As a result, the police department is setting out to be an alternative to courts, and the government itself.
The reforms suggested by the SC reflects the reports submitted by the National Police Commissions and many benches and committees headed by judges and high profile police officers. With this suggestion of reforms, it was assumed that the lackadaisical approach the system has about police department was about to change. But that seems to have met with a disappointment now. Central and State governments implemented it the way they deemed fit, or completely ignored it.
Since the steps suggested by the Supreme Court could reduce the control of state governments on the department, none of them are interested in implementing it. If the court had ordered for the monitored implementation of the directions issued, the situation would have been much better.
Many committee reports have placed their recommendations before the Supreme Court. There is a suggestion to bring a new law in place of the police act of 1861. There are also suggestions to reduce interference by state government on transfers and promotions, and appointments. Investigation department has to be left independent. Along with this, there is also a recommendation to separate implementation section, another unit to hear the grievances against the police and other things.
There is a need to bring in good and positive change into the system to ensure people’s faith on police increases with time and every positive step. A report on the status of police department in the country, brought out in 2018 had thrown light on aspects of increase in crime rate, cases that were resolved through intervention of courts and police, and the presence of people from diverse backgrounds in the police force, basic infrastructure, data relating to prisons, rate of resolution of cases relating to SC/ST women and children etc.
The report says there is a lot left to be done as far as case resolution of other minority communities are concerned. The bias exhibited by police is much dependent on the caste or background of the accused. Then there are also gender, caste and faith that aid to stereotypes as well. Muslims nurse fear against the whole system.
Hence the court has to take the responsibility of reforming the police department on its own shoulders and ensure the implementation of the suggestions made in 2006 report. The states that do not implement this have to be held accountable and penalized. These days the department is joining hands with anti-societal forces and has reached some secret pact with the perpetrators.
Politicians are using the police department as per their whims. Before the police department turns into a wing of Sangh Parivar, the court should ensure the reforms are brought in. Else, people would believe only the lathis and shoes of the police have achieved the freedom.
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BJP's Suvendu urges Bengal Guv to order independent judicial inquiry into Messi event fiasco
Kolkata(PTI): Leader of Opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday wrote to Governor C V Ananda Bose, seeking an independent judicial inquiry into “administrative incompetence” and “public humiliation of citizens”at the Salt Lake Stadium here during an event featuring football legend Lionel Messi.
In his letter, Adhikari alleged that the stadium, built with public funds, was converted into a “private durbar” for political elites, resulting in humiliation and harassment of spectators who had purchased tickets.
"I write this communication with a profound sense of anguish, constitutional alarm, and moral urgency. What unfolded at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan was not merely an episode of administrative incompetence, it was a public humiliation of citizens, a grotesque exhibition of unrestrained political privilege, and a direct assault on the rule of law in the presence of thousands of witnesses," Adhikari asserted.
He claimed that football fans were denied basic amenities and dignified viewing due to unchecked VIP presence, obstruction of sightlines, and arbitrary restrictions.
Chaos unfolded at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday, after spectators resorted to vandalism on failing to catch a glimpse of Messi, alleging gross mismanagement by the organisers and obstruction of views by VIPs.
Police arrested the event’s prime organiser, Satadru Datta, while Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the constitution of a high-level inquiry committee to probe the incident.
Adhikari, in his letter, held the sports department, police authorities and the minister-in-charge of sports and youth affairs responsible, alleging that the situation was “enabled, if not orchestrated”, by the state administration.
He claimed that the conduct of the authorities reflected indifference to public accountability and misuse of power.
The senior BJP leader also took exception to the inquiry committee announced by the chief minister, contending that it lacked independence and credibility.
Adhikari said the panel is headed by Justice (Retd) Asim Ray, who currently holds a statutory post under the administrative control of the state government, and includes senior bureaucrats whose actions are under scrutiny.
"This committee is structurally compromised, legally infirm, and morally indefensible," he said in the letter to the governor.
Adhikari urged Bose to exercise his constitutional authority to order the formation of a truly independent inquiry committee.
He proposed that the committee be headed by a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court, and assisted by persons of unimpeachable integrity with no institutional, administrative or political affiliation with the state government.
“The issue transcends football, politics, and personalities. It concerns the right of citizens to be treated with dignity, the obligation of the state to act as trustee of public interest, and the duty of constitutional authorities to intervene when the executive becomes a law unto itself,” Adhikari said.
Later, speaking to reporters, he accused the state government of mismanaging the situation at Salt Lake Stadium, and demanded the resignation of the CM.
Adhikari said all those responsible for the fiasco should be arrested, and spectators must be provided refunds.
He alleged that senior Trinamool Congress leaders and their associates crowded around Messi, leaving thousands of fans at the stadium deprived of catching a clear glimpse of the football star.
“This was a case of misuse of power at the cost of ordinary citizens. The chief minister must take moral responsibility, those responsible for the incident should be arrested, and every fan who was cheated must get a refund,” Adhikari asserted.
He added that public anger would not subside without accountability and corrective action.
