Police reform and guide lines of National Human Right Commission

The police does not have right to take the life of any person. If by his act, the policeman kills a person, he commits an offence of culpable homicide or culpablehomicide amounting to murder unless such killing is not an offence under the law. Under the criminal law prevailing in India, nothing is an offence which is done in exercise of right of private defence (section 96-106 of Indian Penal Code). But the right given under these sections of Indian Penal Code is not absolute right and they can be exercised under the restriction given in section 99 and 104 of same Act.Section 46 of criminal procedure code empowers the police officer to usereasonable force, even extending up to causing death, if found necessary to arrest the person accused of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment of life. Thus, it isevident that death caused in an encounter, if not justify, would amount to an offence of culpable homicide.So causing death of any person without reasons can not be justified. India is awelfare state and our constitution provides right to life and personal liberty. It includesliving with human dignity. It is the duty of state to ensure the fundamental rights for every person.However the torture of police has been increasing very rapidly from the lastdecade. The police encounter, custodial death, custodial rape, and the atrocities of policeare day to day news. To reduce these events the Janta Party Govenmenat set up SoliSorabji Panel, but before submission of the report the government fell down and thereport had not been enforced and the arbitrariness of police had been promoted in everystate. Recently Times of India news paper published that largest number of custodialdeath was registered in UP.On 22

September, 2006 the Supreme Court of India in case of

Prakash Singh vsUnion of India

in its historical decision ordered wide reformation in police organization.Due to its impact the police organization would be able to work without politicalinfluential and adequate reformation can be made in law and order. It would help inreducing atrocities. Faced with Supreme Court directives to implement the much delayed

police reforms, union government has set in motion the process to bring a new police act,incorporating the suggestion of the Soli Sorabji Panel. The report has called for drasticchanges in the 145 year old police act to introduce fixed two year tenure for policeofficers down the line from DGP to SHO, as well as separation of maintenance of lawand order from crime investigation, duties.Police law is continuing from the period of British which is based on policeregulation Act, 1861. The object of police administration was to quash the Indian beforeindependence and to maintain the English rule, but today the police administration is the part of India as a welfare state. So there is need to do basic change in Indian policesystem. The ‘police’ are the subject comes under state list of seventh schedule. Its provision is given in art. 245. So it is the subject of state and it is the responsibility of state to reform the police system. Following are the main points under police reformation:

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The main objects of these reformations are to establish the accountabilityand sensitivity of police towards people which should be conductedthrough rule of law.

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The second object of these reformations is to fix the tenure of policeofficers. Their tenure is fixed for two year.

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The selection procedure of DGP should be transparent andrecommendation of their promotion should be made by Board of PublicServices Commission (BPSC).

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The State Government has been ordered to establish a state securitycommission, so that the State Government may not pressurize the police.This commission will ensure that the police will work according toconstitution and law of country.

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There shall be a Police Establishment Board in each state which shalldecide all transfers, postions, promotions and other services relatedmatters of officers of and below the rank of Dy.S.P. The State Governmentmay interfere with the decision of the Board in exceptional cases, onlyafter recording its reasons for doing so.

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There shall be Police Complaint Authority at district level to look into thecomplaints against police officer of and up to the rank of Dy.S.P. Similarly

there should be another Police Complaints Authority at the state level tolook into complaints against officers of the rank of S.P. and above. Thedistrict level authority may be headed by retired district judge and the statelevel authority is headed by retired judge of High Court.

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The National Government shall also set up a national level commission atthe union level to prepare a panel for being placed before the appropriateappointing authority for selection and placement of chief of central policeorganization, who should be given a minimum tenure of two years.As per the amendment made in criminal procedure code, section 176 makes the provisionthat if any dies or disappear or rape is alleged to have been committed on any women,when such person or women is in the custody of police or in any other custody authorized by magistrate or court under this code in addition to the inquiry or investigation held by police , any inquiry shall be held by Judicial Magistrate or Metropolitan Magistrate as thecase may be within whose jurisdiction the offence has been committed. The JudicialMagistrate or Metropolitan Magistrate or Executive Magistrate or police officer holdingan inquiry or investigation shall within 24 hours of death of such person, forward the body of deceased with a view to its being examined to the nearest civil surgeon or other qualified medical person appointed in this behalf by the state government unless it is not possible to so for reasons to be recorded in writing.Apart from this, National Human Right Commission issued guide lines to all chief secretaries of state and administration of union territories in dealing with death occurringin encounters with police on 29/03/1997 and on 2/12/2003 a revised guidelines have beenissued and it was emphasized that state must send information to the commission of allcases of death arising out of police encounters. Following are the revised guidelines:

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When the police officer in charge o f a police station receives informationabout the death in an encounter between the police party and others, heshall enter that information in the appropriate register.

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Where the police officer belonging to the same police station aremembers of the encounter party, whose action resulted in death, it isdesirable that such cases are made over for investigation to some other independent investigating agency, such as State CBCID.