Erosion of integrity plagues state police forces
A couple of weeks ago, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the Kolkata rape-murder case and transferred its investigation to the CBI. It was rape and murder most foul that shocked the nation to its core. Spontaneous anger and anguish found expression in violent and non-violent agitations, especially in the community of doctors who struck work throughout the country. The quick results expected from the CBI have not come. Following this intervention, many heinous crimes like rapes and murders have taken place in the country. But they have not received the same attention of the courts or social groups.
The apex court’s intervention in earlier cases has failed to prevent rapes and other crimes. And this intervention is not likely to stop such crimes in future either. The transfer of this case to the CBI, although fully justified, set my mind on a different train of thought — why have the Supreme Court and the high courts lost faith in the professionalism and integrity of the state police forces? Why have the people lost faith in the state police and police station or, for that matter, the state governments and the lower judiciary? Did it happen overnight or has it come as a gradual process that has snowballed because of the politician becoming all-powerful with the help of criminal elements inside and outside the police and the government?
Looking back, at first, only very important cases of corruption were transferred to the CBI by the courts or the state and Central governments. Officers in the state used to take offence at such transfer of cases because they thought it cast a poor reflection on them. The CBI also got good results because it was not overstretched as it had started out as a specialised agency to tackle high-level corruption. Because of continued strengthening of the political arm and its accompanying moral decline and loss of integrity, people started approaching the courts directly for the transfer of cases. The Central and state governments also took recourse to this remedy to achieve their desired results because the overall decline in the body politic has adversely affected the CBI as well.
Officers were specially brought in so that a more pliable structure could be created. The CBI also expanded and opened offices in most of the states. However, this only whetted the appetite of the Central Government, and a new agency was born — the National Investigation Agency (NIA); its purpose was also to investigate, but with greater stress on terror activities with inter-state ramifications. Here also, it was the discretion of the Centre to assign cases. There have been frequent statements from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that NIA offices would be opened in all states.
We already have the Narcotics Control Bureau and a freshly empowered Enforcement Directorate armed with extensive countrywide powers, as also the Intelligence Bureau and R&AW (Research and Analysis Wing). We also have the paramilitary forces (PMFs), which have a national remit. The PMFs are there to tackle law and order situations that are considered to be beyond the state police forces. The state can also ask for these forces from the MHA or the ministry can directly inject them into the state with nominal approval of the state government. The CRPF, CISF, BSF, SSB, ITBP, etc, have been in some states for decades without a break. They work under the command of the state police. But otherwise, they are independent in their day-to-day functions. What about the state governments and the fact that law and order is a state subject under the Constitution? The police station and the district SP are the cornerstones of the edifice of the police department.
Again, because of extra-departmental intervention, both have been rendered as adjuncts of the ruling party. This has come at the cost of the professionalism of the state police and led to its decline, especially at the cutting edge, that is, the police station and the district SP. These remain points where the police and public interact. But the interactions leave a lot to be desired. This is not an interaction in which the citizen has confidence that he will get justice. Rather, he goes as a client or a supplicant.
A well-manned and well-led police station has the best informants. And it is information, accompanied by good operations, that leads to success. We have seen even in insurgencies in J&K, Punjab and the Northeast and Maoist movements in central India, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh that operational intelligence is the best when it comes from the police station. This is why all operational groups, including the Army, have the local police station as a significant component. In both normal and complex crimes and insurgencies, success has been achieved when the fulcrum of police work, that is, the police station, is fully involved. If this is correct, why weaken it? The reason is that the powers that be want a pliant, docile force loyal to them and not to the law of the land. The Centre, by creating a plethora of investigation agencies and a policy of pick-and-choose about which cases they want to investigate, has weakened the state probe agencies. The state governments have also done great damage by interfering in the internal administration of the police department and posting undesirable elements to top positions. The police stations have virtually been overrun by these forces. This is not to say that the growing needs of a modern India, consisting of a far higher population than what existed at the time of Independence, demand better and more professional and specialised forces, for instance, in case of cybercrimes. But the key is professional agencies where political oversight is kept minimal and high standards of Centre-state coordination are established.
In all things connected to police reforms or investigation of crime or maintenance of law and order, one common obstructive element runs through them — the political establishment. Unless and until political will is found to resolve this and to put an end to interference in the internal administration of the working of the police, things will only deteriorate. Even the orders of the higher judiciary regarding police reforms have been lost in the maze of bureaucratic juggling. In our system of government, the ultimate power is with the elected political party. That is not to say that this power is unfettered because the Constitution and various laws of the land lay down specific guidelines for the purpose of governance. Above all, the ruling parties are elected by the people, who want peace and a just administration. Will the people have to take to the streets for reforms and justice? Hope the elected governments will understand the message the street is sending.
