CHAPTER – V

WORKING OF COMMISSIONER OF POLICE SYSTEM IN

CHENNAI CITY

Overview

In this chapter an attempt has been made to evaluate the

working of the Commissioner of Police system in Chennai city.

Powers of Commissioner of Police

In order to discharge the various functions of Chennai City
Police, the Commissioner of Police is vested with lot of powers. According
to Chennai City Right To Information Manual the powers of the
Commissioners are to transfer and posting of Inspectors of Police and
transfer of Police Constable from Tamil Nadu State Police to Chennai
Police, issue of up gradation orders from Grade II Police Constable to
Grade I Police Constable and from Grade I Police Constable to Head
Constable, not allowed to retire, transfers and postings, concurrence for
transfer of officers (Inspectors) to Special Units and other duty
arrangements, proposals for new sanctions, seniority of Inspectors and
Assistant Commissioners, appeals and reviews, regular “C‟ form licenses
to cinema theatres, new applications for Arms licenses reconsideration of
rejected applications and renewal of Arms licenses of All India Service
Officers, new applications for browsing centre licenses, renewals and
rejected applications for browsing centre licenses, referring of petitions to
central crime branch for enquiry, condemnation and new purchase of
vehicles, sanction of fuel and award of prizes, allotment of funds (budget)
distribution to zones and surrender proposals, convening of meetings on
crime against women & juvenile justice to other districts, central crime
branch, crime branch (criminal investigation department) or other states,
withdrawal of court cases, sanction of victim assistance fund, ex-gratia

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to police personnel on heroic activities, allotment of quarters for
assistant commissioners and protection of civil rights sanctions1.

Licensing Powers of the Commissioner

This license is based on the Arms Act 1959 and Arms Rules
1962, which is a Central Act. In the Arms Act, 1959, (Act.No.54 of 1959)
under Chapter-I, the Commissioner of Police is appointed as District
Magistrate in Section-2, Sub Section VII (d). The Act, Rules empowers
Commissioner of Police for issue of fresh Arms Licenses, renewal of
Arms Licenses, permission for Purchase/ Sale of Weapons,
transportation License for moving the weapon, and such similar matters
and trade License for the storage of arms & ammunition issued in Form
XIV.
The Commissioner of Police is the competent authority for the
issue of fresh Arms Licenses for the following purposes-self protection,
re-employment, sports and to keep the weapons as a heirloom (ancestral
property) .The application should be in the prescribed format. No other
documents required. If the application satisfies and based on the
recommendation of local Police, the Commissioner of Police can grant
Licenses with area validity to Chennai City or throughout Tamil Nadu.
The State Government is the competent authority to extend the area
validity to throughout India for NP Bore weapon. The Commissioner of
Police, can renew all the Licenses, including those with area validity with
All India, for a maximum period of 3 years.
Normally 3 month’s time limit is being granted to produce
the weapon for inspection. Based on the genuine and valid reasons, the
time limit is being granted from six months to one year, as per the
discretion of the Commissioner of Police. Commissioner of Police is the
competent authority for the issuance of fresh license. To decide the
issue, verification reports of local Police viz., Inspector / Assistant

1 Chennai Police RTI Manual -2 , Section 4(1)B(ii).

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Commissioner / Deputy Commissioner are obtained and routed through
Additional Commissioners concerned to Commissioner of Police for
consideration. iii) To deny the issue of fresh License / renewal, issue of
Show Case Notice is mandatory as per the Act. For all grievances of the
Applicants, in cases of decisions arrived at by Commissioner of Police,
State Government are the Appellate authority. Pistol, Revolver and
repeating rifle is Rs.100/- and Renewal Rs.50/- Per Year. Rifle is Rs.60/-
and Renewal Rs.30/- Per Year. 0.22 Bore Rifle (low velocity) firing
rimmed cartridges, B.L. Gun and Air Rifle is Rs.40/- and Renewal is
Rs.20/-Per Year. M.L. Gun, Air Gun, Sword, Boyonet, Dagger and Spear
lance is Rs.10/- and Renewal is Rs.5/- Per Year. The Government of
India are competent authority for the revision of fees. The revision of fee
was lastly done by them in GSR.No.1, dated 19.12.97 and came into
effect from 03.01.98.

Cinema Licensing Power

The Commissioner of Police is empowered as the Licensing
authority in respect of the following aspects as per the Tamil Nadu
Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1955 (Tamil Nadu Act IX of 1955) and the
Tamil Nadu Cinemas Regulations rules 1957. According to Section 2(2),
the “District Collector” in relation to the presidency town means the
Commissioner of Police to implement or enforce the above act2. Whoever
intends to construct a permanent theatre shall apply to the Licensing
Authority (Collectors in Districts and the Commissioner of Police in
Chennai City) in Form “A”. This form shall be accompanied with the
following documents and information‟s. Plan of the proposed site drawn
to scale clearly indicating the surrounding roads and buildings which
exist up to a distance of 200 Sq. Meters of the proposed site. Schools,
Hospitals, temples, Mosques, Churches or other places of public worship
should be clearly indicated (Rule 35(1)). Proof for the ownership of the

2 Tamil Nadu Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1955

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site by the applicant or lease agreement if the applicant is not the owner
of the site (Form-A) 1-3. Fee of Rs.1000/- (Rule 35(1)(A)). On receipt of
the above, the following authorities are to be referred to the corporation
of Chennai for passing resolution recording its objections if any, to the
site and to the installation of machinery. Time limit allowed 45 days Rule
35(2). To DC/Traffic to offer remarks form Traffic points of view. Time
limit allowed one month Rule 35(3). To the DC/L&O to offer remarks
from (L&O) Point of view (No Rule). The applicant to exhibit a notice in
Form A1 on the site till the matter is finally decided (Rule 35(A)(3). Notice
in Form A2 has to be published in the Notice Board of the Corporation
and also in the Gazette calling for objections if any from the public. Time
limit 15 days from the date of publication Rule 35(A)(4). After
considering the application with reference to the matters specified in
Sec.5(1) of the Act and on the remarks of the local authority or the Police,
NOC in Form “B” has to be issued or to be refused. Time limit for the
entire process is Six Months. If not, it shall be deemed that the applicant
has been granted N.O.C. (Rule 36(1). The N.O.C so issued is valid for 5
years and the Government may extend the validity of N.O.C beyond five
years. (Rule 36(3) and the proviso) Rs.500/- to be collected from the
applicant. Any person aggrieved by the orders of the Licensing authority
granting or refusing to grant NOC, may appeal to the Commissioner,
Land Administration (Rule 36(4))3.

Approval of Building Plan

On receipt of NOC, the applicant shall submit an application

for approval of the plan of building to be constructed with complete plans
as detailed in Rule 37(1), 37(2) and 37(3) with a treasury receipt issued
by the Corporation of Chennai for the payment of fees for construction of
building and installation of machinery. On receipt of the plans, the

3 Land Administration (Rule 36(4))

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Licensing authority has to refer the matter to the Chennai Metropolitan
Development Authority authorities. The Chennai Metropolitan
Development Authority authorities shall send their reports within one
month to the licensing authority. Simultaneously the Electrical
Inspector has to be consulted to ensure that the wiring plan confirms
with the rules. Time limit for the Electrical Inspector is one month (Rule
38-2). . The Licensing authority shall grant or refuse to approve the plan
of the building within 2 weeks from the date of receipt of the report from
the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority authorities4. On
commencement of construction, the applicant shall notify the Public
Works Department authorities for the issue of structural soundness
certificate (Rule 40(1) under sub-rule. The applicant on completion of
construction should apply for the issue of License in Form “C” enclosing
the documents such as Certificate in Form “D” issued by the Electrical
Inspector. Certificate issued by the Executive Engineer Chennai
Metropolitan Development Authority covering the provision of Rule 54 to
56, 59, 60, 77, 78 and 80 to 82. Structural soundness certificate issued
by the Public Works Department authorities, Film Division Certificate,
Insurance Certificate, Prescribed Fee (Rule43), Certificate from Fire
Service Department, Public Liability Certificate, the Licensing authority
on receipt of the application with the above documents shall issue
license in Form “C” within two weeks for the period covered by the Chief
Electrical Inspector and Structural Soundness Certificate (Rule 42 (1)),
the Licensing authority shall fix the actual rates of admission in each
class after taking into account the amenities provided in the theatre, the
prevailing rates of admission in similar theatres in similar localities
within his jurisdiction and any other relevant factor (Rule 83(1)A(a). The
Licensing authority can modify the admission rates from time to time
according to the prevailing circumstances and the Licensing authority

4 Chennai Police RTI Manual -2 , Section 4(1) b(iv).

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may alter the rates of admission if there has been any change in the
amenities provided either in that class or generally in the theatre or for
any other valid reason (Rule 83 (1-A). 8. The Government in their Orders
in G.O.Ms.No.1265, Home (Cinema), Dept., dated 31.12.06, have Laid
down 15 conditions to revise the Rates of Admission of Theatres.
The applicant for renewal of “C” form License shall be made one
month prior to the expiry of License. For belated applications a penalty of
Rs.2,000/- to be collected (Rule 92(1) & 92(2) (1), G.O.Ms.No.42 Home
(Cinema-1/Department, dated 13.01.2003). The renewal application
shall be accompanied by the following documents. Affidavit declaring the
lawful possession of the building etc., Prescribed Fee, insurance
certificate, no due certificate from commercial tax Dept. (Rule 92(1),
electrical Inspector Certificate (Rule 94), Structural Soundness
Certificate (Rule 96(1), Film Division Certificate, Property tax paid
receipt, Public Liability Certificate and If the “C” form license is not
renewed or refused by the licensing authority before the expiry of license,
he shall grant temporary license in form “E” for one month and
subsequently renewed for further periods of one month at a time (Rule
97(1)(2)). 5

Enforcement of Discipline
The Commissioner of Police, the Licensing authority is
empowered to enforce discipline on all respects, such as: non provision of
AC, up keep of the theatre hygienic, violation of cinema rules in
exhibiting obscene films or uncensored films or censored by the cuts
imposed by Censor Board illicitly shown in the theatres, black marketing
of tickets and so on.
If the Licensee in-charge of the premises is in contravention
of the provision of the Act or Rules or any condition / restrictions of the
License, he shall be punished with a fine of Rs.2,000/- and second

5 Chennai Police RTI Manual -2 , Section 4(1) b(iv).

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subsequent offence with fine which may extend to Rs.4,000/- (Sec.8 of
the Act).
The Licensing authority may revoke or suspend the license
if the has reasons that the provision of Sec. 9 has been contravened
(Sec.9 of the Act). The Joint Commissioner, Land Administration shall
be the Appellate authority (Rule45). The Government is the reviewing
authority for all such suspensions and revocations (Rule 47-A)(1)6.

Public Resort Licensing Power

Commissioner of Police is empowered under section 34 of
MCP Act, to issue Licenses for the purpose of public resort, such as
conduct of meetings, seminars, Music and Dance festivals and all others
such as video games / parlors etc., in the indoor auditorium / halls.
Permanent Public Resort Licenses are issued to Sabah‟s/ Hotels.
Application should accompany with the following certificates Structural
soundness certificate from Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority,
Electrical fitness certificate from Corporation, Chennai, Fire safety
certificate from Fire services and Rescue Department, Health certificate
issued by Corporation, Chennai, Fire Insurance and Public Liability
Insurance. On the recommendation of the Local Police, License can be
issued till 31st December of the year and be renewed by every (calendar)
Year on production of the above certificates every time. A fee for the
license is to be paid by the Building owners. For fresh license Rs.75/- is
valid up to the closure of calendar year. Renewal: Rs.75/- per annum.
Fees for Conduct of the function programme for one day Rs.25/- For 2
days Rs.50/- For 3 days Rs.75/- Further up to 30 days – Rs.75/- (No.
additional fee)7. Commissioner of Police, under section 37 of MCP Act, is
the disciplinary authority, and under section 39 of the Act, rules making
body. No appellate authority is prescribed in the Act.
6 Chennai Police RTI Manual -2 , Section 4(1) b(iv).

7 Chennai Police RTI Manual -2 , Section 4(1) b(iv).

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Video Library Licensing Power
Commissioner of Police is the Licensing authority for
Chennai City, under the provision Tamil Nadu exhibition of Films on T.V.
Screen, Video Cassette recorders and through Cable TV Network
(Regulation) Act 1994. Application in Form “H” shall be accompanied
with the following documents. They are sketch duly indicating the place
of Video Library, ownership documents. If rented building, consent letter
from the Building Owner, rent receipt, latest Corporation Tax Paid
receipt, if the applicant is not Owner of the building, Lease deed /Rental
agreement to be submitted, receipt on payment of fee of Rs.1000/- On
verification by Local Police and satisfied that the Applicant is not having
adverse remarks, license can be issued. One year, from the first January
to 31st December of every year and should be renewed for the every
calendar year. The Commissioner of Police is competent to refuse fresh
license, as well as renewals, after duly given a Show Cause Notice to the
Applicant. State Government (Home Dept) is the appellate authority.

Poison Licensing Power

Commissioner of Police is empowered as the Licensing
authority for the issue of Poison License, as per the Powers conferred by
the Tamil Nadu Poison Act 1919. Application in Form “B” duly
furnishing the details of poison substances to be stored and consent
letter of the building owner are required. On the recommendation of
Local Police, Poison License is issued in Form A with certain conditions.
There are as many as 55 Poison substances specified in the schedule to
the Act. Some of them are enlightened. Ammonia, Barium, Chloroform,
Diazinon, Hydrochloric Acid, Mercury, methanol, Opium, Phosphorus
Compounds, Sodium Nitrate, Zinc Chloride etc.,8

DL-2 Licensing Power

8 Tamil Nadu Poison Act 1919.

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 In letter No.P&E II(3)/28416/2001 dated 05.03.2002 of the
Commissioner of Prohibition, the District authorities have been
requested to direct all the Methanol users to obtain DL-2 License in
addition to having the licenses under Poison Act and Petroleum Rules. As
per this, the licenses are being granted to the methanol users under
poison Act to store 300 Liters by the Commissioner of Police.
Commissioners of Police, viz., licensing authority in Chennai City,
have the discretionary Power, for the issue of license, renewal,
revocation, and cancellation of license, by recording the fact. Rs.200/- is
collected for issue of fresh license as well as for further renewal. 1 Year
from 1st January to 31st December of every Year. Renewal should be
done every Year.

Gymnasium Licensing Power

License to run Gymnasium is issued, under section 35 of
MCP Act. Application in the prescribed format should accompany with
the documents such as Sketch indicating the place of Gymnasium,
Consent letter from the building owner and Latest Corporation Tax
Receipt. On the recommendations of Local Police and Traffic Gymnasium
License is issued valid up to 31st December of the year with certain
conditions or payment of fee of Rs.25/-. License will be renewed for the
Calendar Year (i.e for 1st Jan to 31st Dec) on payment of fee of Rs.25/-.

Crackers Licensing Power (Temporary)

The application seeking Temporary Crackers License to sell
Crackers during Deepavali and Karthigai Deepam should accompany
with the following documents:- Application duly affixed with Rs.2/- court
fee stamp, Corporation License, Fire License issued by the fire and
Rescue Department. Application will be entertained one month before
Deepavali. The Application will be referred to Inspector of Police for local
verification. Inspector of Police will send recommendation through
Assistant Commissioners/Deputy Commissioners concerned. On its

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receipt, orders of the Commissioner of Polices concerned will be obtained
and a sum Rs.150/- will be collected from the applicant towards fee and
license in Form 2 will be issued. This license is purely temporary and
valid only during Deepavalii and Karthigai Deepam. License shall remain
in force for 20 days during Deepavali and 1 week during Karthigai
Deepam. This License is issued by the respective Zonal Joint
Commissioner of Police9.

Browsing Centre Licensing Power

The Commissioner of Police is empowered to issue License
to run a Browsing Centre. Under Section 39 of Chennai City Police Act,
1888 and G.O.Ms.No.1253 Home (Pol.VIII) Department, dated 28.12.06.
Application in the prescribed format should accompany with the
following documents. They are Rent agreement or Lease deed, Tax
assessment report or Tax receipts, NOC from the Owner of the Building,
Installation of Internet Telephone connection, Log Book, particulars of
Hardware or Software installed, Parking space should be provided within
the premises, Video cameras should be fixed to store the image of
browser10. On the recommendation, of Local Police and Traffic No
Objection Certificate for Browsing centre, License will be issued valid up
to 31st December of the year (For one year) with certain conditions on
payment of fees of Rs.75/-. License will be renewed for every calendar
year (i.e for 1st Jan to 31st Dec based on the Local Police report, on
Payment of fees of Rs.75/-. The Commissioner of Police is the competent
authority to issue or refuse to issue browsing centre license if the
Commissioner of Police is not satisfied with the functioning of the
browsing centre.

9 Chennai Police RTI Manual -2 , Section 4(1) b(iv).

10 Section 39 Chennai City Police Act, 1888.

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Investigation Powers
Investigation according to Criminal Procedure Code is to
collect the evidence, regarding the commission of a crime, Registration of
FIR as prescribed in Criminal Procedure Code, Examination of witness as
prescribed in Criminal Procedure Code, Visit of investigation officer at
the scene of offence as prescribed in Criminal Procedure Code,
Collection of evidence as prescribed in Criminal Procedure Code,
Preparation of site plan as prescribed in Criminal Procedure Code,
Arrest of the accused as prescribed in Criminal Procedure Code,
Recording of confessions as prescribed in Criminal Procedure Code,
Obtaining Police / Judicial custody remand as prescribed in Criminal
Procedure Code, Search as prescribed in Criminal Procedure Code,
Seizure as prescribed in Criminal Procedure Code, Preparation of case
diaries etc as prescribed in Criminal Procedure Code and Filing of charge
sheet as prescribed in Criminal Procedure Code.

Powers of the Commissioner of Police under various Acts

He is also vested with lot of powers under various Acts
passed by the Legislature. They are:
1. The Arms Act 1959 of the Arms Rules, 1962.
2. The Cinematograph Act, 1952 (Central Act XXVII of 1952).
3. The Tamil Nadu Cinema Regulation Act 1955 (Act XX of 19550 and
the Tamil Nadu Cinemas Regulations Rules, 1957.
4. The Tamil Nadu Dramatic Performances Act, 1954.
5. The Explosive Substances Act, 1908.
6. The Indian Explosives Act, 1884.
7. The Indian Explosive Act, Amendment Act 1978 (Act 32 of 1978).
8. The Tamil Nadu hackney carriages Act, 1911.
9. The National Security Act 65 of 1980.
10. The Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic (Sub stances) Act, 1985.

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 11. The Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers,
Drug Offenders, Goodness, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum
Gamblers Act (Act XIV of 1982).
12. The Indian Passport Act, 1920 and Indian Passport Rules, 1950.
13. The Tamil Nadu Places of Public Resort Act, 1888 (Act 2 of 1888).
14. The Police (Incitement to Disaffection) Act, 1922.
15. The Tamil Nadu Pawnbrokers‟ Act, 1943.
16. The Tamil Nadu Restriction of Habitual Offender‟s Act, 1948 and
the Tamil Nadu Restriction of Habitual Offenders Rules, 1949.

Powers and Duties Additional Commissioners of Police

There are five Additional Commissioners of Police functioning
under the control of Commissioner of Police. These Additional
Commissioners have the powers to transfer and Posting of Sub-
Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors (Armed Reserve), to transfer and Posting
up to the rank of Head Constables, to completion of Probation and issue
of retirement orders of Inspectors, to completion of Probation in respect
of Sub Inspectors (Armed Reserve) and Sub Inspectors of Special Units,
suspension review, sanction of Earned Leave, Medical Leave surrender
and Leave Travel Concession up to Assistant Commissioners, sanction of
Temporary Advance, Part final withdrawal & Final withdrawal to
Inspectors, Assistant Commissioners, Superintendent, Personal
Assistants and Section Officers, temporary monthly permits to Cinema
Theatres, extension of No Objection Certificate Period for purchase of
Weapons, getting of No Objection Certificate from Corporation, transport
permit for weapons and poisonous materials, renewal of Arms Licenses
(expect All India Service officers) Gym Licenses, Video Library Licenses
and Poison Licenses, annual Public Resort License to Star Hotels,
Sabah‟s and Cultural Dances and Renewal, replies to Petitions from
Chief Office and Government, review of Chief Minister Cell, National
Human Rights Commission, State Human Rights Commission pendency,

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horse feeding bills, collection of Guard Charges review, chief Office &
Audit Generals audit Review of Pendency, follow up action on the above
mentioned meeting proceedings and Review, AMC for Computers,
collection of Penal rent for over stayal in Quarters and allotment of
Quarters for Police Constables up to Inspectors mutual exchange of
quarters / extension of stay.

Powers and Duties of Deputy Commissioner of Police

The Deputy Commissioner of Police is the head of the district
police force. He is responsible for all matters relating to its internal
economy and management, for the maintenance of its discipline and the
punctual and regular performance of all its preventive and executive
duties. Deputy Commissioner of Police attends office during office hours
while at headquarters. The Deputy Commissioner of Police is responsible
for seeing that his Assistants and Deputies work efficiently and it is his
duty to bring to the notice of the Director-General any defects of
character or temperament which detract from their utility as Police
Officers.
The Deputy Commissioner makes constant tours of
inspection through all parts of his district. He does not confine himself to
examining the Police stations, but visits villages and make himself
acquaintance with the village headmen and principal inhabitants
endeavoring to gain their confidence and enlist their co-operation, at the
same time ascertaining the state of crime and inquiring into the work of
his subordinates.
The Deputy Commissioner shall, whenever practicable,
personally investigate and the cases relating to Dacoity, Highway
robbery, Murder, Culpable homicide, House-breaking and theft of a
specially grave nature, Thefts of a especially grave nature, Any especially
serious disturbance or riot, Conspiracy cases, Offences under sections
400 and 401 of Indian Penal Code, any case of a specially grave nature,

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counterfeits currency notes and offences under sections 3 and 4 of the
Protection of Civil Rights Act, 195511.
In cases of alleged extortion or bribery by a Police Officer, the
Deputy Commissioner must use his discretion whether to hold a
personal inquiry or not, but all really serious cases of this nature should
be inquired either by the Deputy Commissioner or his Assistant
Commissioner. Immediately on receipt of the first case diary in any of the
above cases or after his personal investigation, whichever is earlier, he
shall send report to the Additional Commissioner of Police and a copy to
the Collector. The Deputy Commissioner to keeps the Collector fully
informed both by personal conference and special reports, of all matters
of importance concerning the peace of the district and the state of crime.

Powers and Duties of Assistant Commissioner of Police

The Assistant Commissioner of Police acts within his
jurisdiction as the deputy of the Deputy Commissioner of Police. He shall
work entirely under the orders of the latter, whom he should keep
informed of his action and of what takes place in the sub-division. He
should consult him in all matters of difficulty and take his advice when
necessary. His responsibilities are more executive than administrative.
He should, by regular inspections and frequent visits, ensure the efficient
performance of duties at stations and circle level, and in particular,
organize prevention of crime in a systematic manner and ensure co-
ordinate, sustained and purposeful investigation and detection. He
should supervise the investigation of all grave offences or any case or
series of cases of importance which present special difficulties. He should
also keep in touch with developments, particularly in the trouble some
areas or among the trouble Sol-no classes within his jurisdiction by
frequent visits to villages, particularly interior ones, during which he

11
P.C.R Act 1955 Sections 3 and 4.

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should also check the outdoor work of the station staff. He should ensure
a high standard of training and performance of his subordinates, bearing
in mind the quality of their service to the public as much as the
enforcement aspects of their responsibilities and should be particularly
strict in the prevention of indifference to public complaints, harassment
or oppression of members of the public the ill treatment of any prisoner
or person within police custody or appearing before the police. Assistant
Commissioner of Police has a special responsibility for quick and
thorough enquiry into any misconduct on the part of his subordinates
which may come to his notice and for the completion of any disciplinary
proceedings which may be entrusted to him. He should ensure close and
cordial relations with the magistracy and other departments.

Powers and Duties of Inspector of Police (Law and Order)

The principal duties of the Law - and Order inspectors are to
supervise the Police work of Jurisdiction and branches, to maintain
discipline among his subordinates, to see to the upkeep of arms,
accoutrements and other Government property and buildings, and to
keep their immediate superiors informed of the state of the Stations
limits under his control from Police point of view.- The supervision of the
Law and Order Inspector will in no way relieve the Sub-inspector of full
responsibility-for the Police work in his station area. If a serious breach
of the peace is anticipated, the Inspector (Law and Order) shall promptly
proceed to the locality and take measures to prevent it. Should he be
present at the time of any rioting, he will, in the absence of any senior
officer, take command of the Police engaged in suppressing it. The
Inspector (Law and Order) should be present on the occasion of large
festivals and Public assemblies and supervise the Police arrangements.

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Powers and Duties of Inspector of Police (Crime)
Crime inspectors are employed to hold responsible on a full
time basis for prevention of crime, detection of crime and prosecution of
criminal cases in Courts. They will also handle professional property
criminal in his Station limits. They will also handle crime and intelligence
work in special units at districts and State level. On the occurrence of
crime of any importance he should proceed to the spot without delay and
take steps to investigate and if and when necessary, should take steps to
secure the co-operation of the Police of the neighboring Stations. In
regard to outbreaks of a particular type of crime within the circle the
Inspector (Crime) should personally and as early as possible take charge
of the directions and coordination of investigation. He will be held
responsible for seeing that all information is examined, compared and
collated, that every clue is followed up to its end and redundant wok is
not done by different stations. He will also personally investigate all grave
professional property crimes and all important cases forming a series
and also attend to such Inspectors are normally other cases that are
endorsed to him for investigation by the superiors.

Powers and Duties of Station House Officers

Sub Inspectors are normally employed as Station House
Officers. However, in large town stations, Inspectors are employed as
Station House Officers. A Station House Officer in charge of a police
station is fully responsible for the police administration of his charge. It
is his duty to assign to his sub-ordinates their duties and to see that
they perform them correctly and to take measures for preservation of the
peace and the prevention and detection of crime within the limits of his
station. A Station House Officer shall make his business to acquire full
local knowledge and to become acquainted with the people of his station
limits, especially the village headmen, and enlist their co-operation. He
shall visit all the villages in his jurisdiction once in a quarter. As far as
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possible, all investigations shall be conducted by an officer not lower in
rank than a sub-Inspector.
In the Single Station Circles, Inspectors are Station House
Officers. The Sub-Inspector attached. To such stations shall work under
the orders of the Inspector inquiring to the crime and instructing and
supervising the work of Head Constables and Constables. During the
absence of the Inspector, lie will be in full charge of the station and will
act on his own initiative. When more than one Sub-Inspector is attached
to such single station circles, the junior Sub-Inspector shall work under
the orders of the senior Sub-inspector. They are, However, concurrently
responsible for the smooth running of the station.
Station House Officers shall forward daily to the Circle
Inspector or sub-Divisional Officer, as the case may be, a carbon copy of
the entries in the Station General Diary and a copy of all First
Information -Reports in cases registered and case diary sheets recording
any investigation made.
A cash book in C.F. No. 119, shall be maintained in the
headquarter station of each circle and in stations to which permanent
advances are given. It shall be a record of all cash transactions of the
station and the Circle Inspector also in the case of stations at circle
headquarters. All money‟s received on Government account, whether in
cash, cheques, cash orders, remittance transfer receipts, bills etc., which
are convertible into cash, shall be brought to account in it.

Powers and Duties of Head Constables

Head Constables are employed on general duty in police
stations under the station house officer, as station writers in important
stations and in charge of outposts and guards, and also in reserves. They
shall not be placed in station charge except under section 4 (p) of the
Criminal Procedure Code in the absence of the Station house officer nor
shall they conduct independent investigation of cases unless deputed to
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investigate simple cases under Section 157 of the Criminal Procedure
Code in the absence of the station house officer12.
The primary duty of a Head Constable on general duty in a
police station is to supervise the work on the Constables and see to their
instruction. He shall perform any duties allotted to him by the station
house officer, whom he will accompany on investigation when required.
He will also be available for employment in charge of a guard or escort.
He should visit all the villages in the station jurisdiction at least once in
a quarter.
In stations whore no head constable is allowed for the
treasury or sub-jail guard, the charge-of the guard will, under the
direction of the Station House Officer, be divided between the general
duty and Station writer and Head Constables.
The duty of the Head Constable or any other Police Officer in
charge of an outpost is to supervise the work of his men, maintain the
prescribed records and submit a daily report. The Head Constable in
charge of an outpost is not an officer in charge of a police station and is
not empowered to record a „First Information‟ within the meaning of
Section 154, Criminal Procedure Code, of a cognizable offence or to enter
its substance in the First Information Report form. If information of a
cognizable offence, therefore, is lodged with the officer in-charge of an
outpost, he shall record the facts in his outpost „General Diary and
report them, as expeditiously as the circumstances of the case may
require, to the Station House Officer. A Head Constable in-charge of an
outpost may, without the intervention of the officer in charge of a police
station, take action in such of the offences falling under the various
enactments contained in the Madras Road Traffic Code, 1940, as can be
legally taken cognizance of by a Head Constable. The police officer in
charge of an outpost shall, on receipt of a direct complaint or information

12
Criminal Procedure Code, Section 4(p)

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of a crime of serious occurrence, take such immediate action as may
appear necessary, such as proceeding to the scene of the occurrence to
render assistance or arrest an accused person. The investigating officer
should, as a rule, attend Sessions during the trial of a case. Circle
Inspector will however attend Session in all important cases, and
whenever they find time to do so, in other cases. A Head Constable will
be deputed to be at the disposal of the Judge to maintain order in Court.

Working of the Commissioner of Police System

The Commissioner of Police in Chennai city carries out the
different functions with the help of five Additional Police Commissioners,
seven Deputy Commissioners, six Additional Deputy Commissioners, 21
Assistant Commissioners and number of Inspectors, Reserve Inspectors,
Sub Inspectors, Reserve Sub Inspectors, Head Constables and
Constables. These Police officers function under various Wings of
Chennai city Police. They are:

1. Law and Order Wing

2. Administrative Wing
3. Headquarters Wing
4. Public Relations Wing
5. Central Crime Branch
6. Crime Records Bureau
7. Crime Branch (Criminal Investigation Department)
8. Intelligence Wing
9. Armed Police Wing
10. Prohibition Enforcement Wing
11. Technical Services Wing
12. Traffic Police Wing
13. Welfare Wing
14. Home Guards Wing
15. Training and Modernization Wing
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 16. Security wing

Law and Order Wing

For the convenience of Police administration in Chennai city,
the city Police is divided into three Zones. Each Zone is headed by an
Additional Commissioner of Police. Each Zone is divided into three Police
Districts. Each Police District is headed by a Deputy Commissioner of
Police. Each Police District is divided into number of Sub Divisions. Each
Sub Division is headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police. Under
each Sub Division there are number of Police Stations. Each Police
Station is headed by an Inspector Police. He is assisted by Sub-
Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables. The organization of the
Law and Order Wing is explained elaborately in the previous chapter.

Importance and Working of Police Stations

The term „Police‟ is now used to denote a body of people
organized to maintain civil order and to investigate breaches of the law.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the term was used more
generally to denote the internal civil administration of a State or a town,
including the domestic regulation of such matters, as taxes, bounties,
monopolies and the exclusive privileges of corporation. The duties of
Police have been more widely defined to the enforcement of regulations
concerning public health.13 The role of the Police has undergone changes
over the years during the British period and ultimately the role of Police
has been confined to certain Police functions. The Police Act of 1861 has
laid down the important functions of the Police. They are: To obey and
execute all orders and warrants lawfully issued to them by the
appropriate authority, to collect criminal intelligence, to prevent
commission of crime and public intelligence, to detect and bring

13 The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol.No.25, p. 938.

202
offenders to justice, to apprehend all persons whom they are legally
authorized to apprehend on valid grounds, to take charge of unclaimed
property, to regulate public assemblies and processions and to maintain
order on the public roads and so forth. These functions are carried out
by the Police Department through the Police Station. Thus the Police
Station occupies the most important and a unique position. In the
following pages an attempt has been made to evaluate the working of the
Police Stations in order to identify the problems and to suggest various
measures so that the Police Stations in Chennai City can discharge their
functions properly.

Patrol/Beat Duty
Effective patrol/beat duty will help to prevent crime and
develop good Police public relations. The heart of police law enforcement
effort is patrol that is, moving round a limited area on a pre-determined
route on foot, bicycle or motor vehicle by policemen in uniform. The
patrolman must pause to check buildings, to investigate anything out of
the way, to question suspects, to talk to people in the beat and be
constantly vigilant, so that nothing out of the ordinary escapes his
notice.
It is unnecessary to say a great deal on this matter except
that is should be the effort of every police administration to put the
largest possible number of uniformed policemen on the streets at all
times during day and night, and particularly during the hours of
crowding or when crimes are more likely to be committed. Even an
authority on modern police methods like O.W. Wilson of the United
States of America has strongly deprecated the idea of setting up
specialist police divisions at the expense of patrol divisions. According to
him, the patrol division can do the work of all other divisions, but every
other specialist division has only limited functions and, therefore, if any

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choice is to be made, there is no question that the emphasis should be
on patrol.
However, as the number of policemen at the command of any
administration is limited, a judicious plan has to be prepared and
balance has to be struck between how many can be spared for the patrol
and how many should be kept for other duties, which are also
multifarious and important. If a crime cannot be prevented, it should be
detected, for which investigators are required. When detected, the
criminals should be prosecuted, and for this prosecutors are needed.
Prevention also depends on intelligence and surveillance, maintaining
good community relations and securing the co-operation of the public in
all branches of police work. Of course, the patrolman can do all these,
but his area of activity and knowledge will be limited, and so, specialist
groups having wider jurisdiction have to be called in.
It is surprising that there are senior officers in this country
who doubt the utility of patrol and try to replace it by so-called
specialized units. As the Commission has previously remarked, in police
service there can be specialization only to a very limited extent, and even
that specialization should grow out of the patrol and not independently of
it. Therefore, if patrol work is neglected, no amount of other type of police
work can fill the gap. Experiments have been tried in many countries
during the past century regarding different methods of crime control,
but, after the bitter experience gained ultimately patrol have proved to be
the foundation of all police work; and it is on patrol that any
superstructure of good police administration can be built.
Should the patrol be on foot, or should it be on bicycle,
motorcycle, motorcar or on horseback? Each of this type of patrol has its
own merits and its own shortcomings. The foot patrolman can examine
every lock, every door, every nook and corner, looked behind any
obstruction, go into the back lanes and yards, accost every person on the
road, watch whether a man apparently sleeping on the ground is only
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pretending to be asleep, and build up community relations with the
people in his charge. He can interpose his personality in a street brawl,
keep a fatherly eye on children with delinquent tendencies and help
work, which a patrolman is expected to do. The only drawback of the foot
patrol is that the area covered is limited and, therefore, a large number of
foot patrolmen are necessary to cover a large city adequately. The
advantage, which the foot patrolman has, is that he can remain
unobtrusive; he can walk softly without making a sound and surprise
criminals in action. He acquires a thorough knowledge of every lane and
by-lane, and can often chase a criminal into a build alley. A bicycle
patrol is faster than a foot patrol and can cover a larger area. But the
bicyclist will have to dismount when he wants to inspect the lock of a
door or check the identity of a person lying on the foot-path, or when he
wants to visit the backs of houses. He has the same advantage as a foot
constable of being able to move without noise, but he loses some time in
discounting in order to chase a criminal. He fails to acquire intimate
knowledge of the area and tends to lose contact with people. He cannot
easily go into hiding and he has to spend a part of his energy on
maneuvering his cycle. The motor vehicle patrol can cover still larger
areas much faster; he can be in communication with the control central
and can carry police assistance wherever it is required in the shortest
possible time. On the other hand, if the patrol is to function properly,
even the motor patrolman will have to dismount from his vehicle every
time he wants to inspect premises, check the backs of houses, accost
persons on the road, etc. He practically loses all contact with the people
and his work becomes more impersonal. So, whilst he can respond to
calls for help from the public much quicker, his police work, which is
rooted in the community, is lost. Moreover, the motorcar patrolman must
spend much of his time in driving and that amount of attention is lost
from inspection work. A patrolman on a motorcycle or a scooter has
neither the advantages of a foot patrol nor of a cycle patrol nor of a
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motorcar patrol. A scooter or a motorcycle patrolman has to devote much
more attention to what is going on in the streets. This is particularly so,
during busy hours in the evening when much of the attention of the
motor-cycle patrol will have to be diverted to maneuvering through
crowded streets. He is also noisy. Therefore, the motor cycle/scooter
patrol is a liability and patrol should be done only on foot, or cycles or in
motorcars.
However, before allocating any tasks, it is best to streets
once again that whereas the foot patrol‟s work could be complete in itself,
provided the number of men be adequate, the work of a motor care patrol
or a cycle patrol will not be complete even by putting in large numbers of
vehicles, because the motor or the cycle patrolman ultimately will have to
come down on foot to do his preventive work successfully. So, ultimately
he has to functions as a foot patrol. Thus in making any assessment of
the requirements in a city it should be kept in mind that the foot patrols
must be foundation of all police preventive work.
Unfortunately, in Indian cities, as in many other cities of the
world of the patrolman is used mostly as a mere night watchman. In
India, this practice started when the constable was illiterate, but the relic
of old times still persists, and no police chief has yet given a thought to
enlarging the Commissioner of Police of a constable‟s work and giving
him a greater measure of responsibility and a larger sense of
participation. He still remains very much the command certificate man,
i.e. he does not function till he is given a specific command to do a
particular job. The constable is being paid ten times what he used to get
forty years ago, and not to utilize him in spheres of work for which he
will be suitable amount to a waste of talent and energy. Normally foot
patrolling is an unpopular job, because it is the most arduous of all
forms of police work. Night after night in summer, in winter and in rainy
weather, the patrolman has to trudge the entire length of his beat for at
least six hours every night when the rest of the population is smugly
206
asleep. Even the keenest person will soon tire of such work and the
constable does indeed tire. His guard-duty is equally uninteresting. So,
gradually he becomes mechanical in his work and loses initiative. To get
the best out of the educated city constable of today, there must be relief
from this boredom. The last British Royal Commission also
recommended that the constable‟s work should be made more interesting
so that he may find it worth his while.
There is one serious lacuna in police administration in cities.
Although the importance of the citizen‟s participation in all forms of
police work is realized, very little has been done to make this possible.
There is a gulf between the people and the patrol, as the latter never has
sufficient time to come into close touch with the people whose interest he
is supposed to be protecting.
The beat work is important and will require the exercise of
much tact. The Beat-in-charge constable should be selected from
amongst the beat patrol constables and he should be a person who has
intimate knowledge of the area. He will assist in the patrols. He himself
will do day and night patrols at hours, which he considers the most
suitable. He will collect intelligence not by employing spies but by
becoming a friend of the people. He should be a participant in all
community work and he should help the people in every way possible. He
should associate with the people and win their confidence. Surveillance
of bad characters will then become a natural by-product of his work and
he will not have to go out of his way to do it. He will know which are the
bad boys and which good, who lives beyond his means, where a
disorderly house is being kept, which servant is suspect, where cars are
left unattended, which school is attended by what type of children. All
this information he will acquire by the very virtue of living within his beat
and by his becoming acquainted with the residents there.
It is therefore, essential that the beat-in-charge constable
must live within the beat area. He should live there openly a normal life,
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if possible with his family, and take part in all community functions. His
accommodation should be the average type of accommodation of that
locality.
This beat duty will really supplement the normal patrol work
and the beat constable will also take part in the patrols. The beat-in-
charge constable should be given a special pay. This will be considered a
selection post and the stepping-stone to the rank of Head Constable. This
will add to the importance of the work and make it more attractive for the
policemen.
Since the patrol/beat duty is neglected, the problems of law
and order and crimes are not contained in Chennai city. Therefore the
Government should take steps to provide adequate strength in every
Police Station so that this duty is not neglected.

Outposts
The policing of urban areas, particularly the big cities of
India, have followed three patterns. The first is the centralization of the
police staff at police stations in the city and meeting all demands of the
police, including patrols, etc. from the staff concentrated at the police
station. The second system is of dividing the police station area into
divisions of beat houses, each comprising a population of about thirty to
fifty thousand with a Head Constable or Sub-Inspector in charge and 16
to 30 Constables. These staff is responsible for all patrolling works both
during day and during night within that outpost. Normally an outpost
would cover the jurisdictions of four or five beats. The third system is the
fixed posts system. The fixed post systems were originally fixed posts in
the city but gradually developed into more elaborate units. A fixed post
system is a reporting and listening centre where the minimum of records
is kept. The patrolling police are distributed according to fixed post
system, and though they do not live at the fixed post systems, they
operate within that particular fixed post system only. The fixed post
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system is usually in the charge of a Sub-Inspector, who is responsible for
all preventive and community relations work and also takes over
investigation till officers from the special investigation staff of the police
station arrive.
The main argument in favor of decentralization is that the
policeman is on the spot. He is readily accessible to the public. He is able
to reach the place of occurrence or trouble immediately. By his very stay
in the locality he is in the know of all that happens and he identifies
himself personally with the area where the outpost is located. He
acquires an intimate knowledge of the locality and its inhabitants. A
centralized police staff will lose its identity with the people, will be
assigned to various beats on various days and will never gain an intimate
knowledge of any beat. The public will have to come to the police station
for reporting, and time will be wasted in the patrolling police traveling
from the police station to the beat assigned and traveling back after
making the round.
The arguments against decentralization are that, if the force
is kept centralized, the Officer-in-charge can exercise more disciplinary
control over their conduct and behavior; he can make a more rational
distribution of work; he can have large numbers of constables available
to meet a grave situation, and in times of upheaval against the
Government or the police, outposts or fixed post systems are in danger of
being sacked, whereas a centralized force will be able to hold out much
longer. The upheavals of the type apprehended, when the outposts or
fixed post system are liable to be sacked, occur very rarely, and for the
matter of that even public stations have, on occasion, been sacked. As
for the argument of better control by the Officer-in-charge, the less said
the better. With large numbers of constables at the police station real
control now is ineffective and diffused. The same applies to the
distribution of work, because the distribution is all left to a constable
and the Officer-in-charge justifies this objectionable practice by pleading
209
that he has no time to distribute the work. So, there is really no valid
argument in favor of such centralization.
The advocates of centralized police always forget the
importance of the police remaining a part of the community. It is from
this wrong understanding of police work that all errors and shortcomings
in police functioning arise.
The functions of the Out Posts are preventive work,
including patrols and surveillance, developing the work of the beat in
charge constable, interposing in all law and order matters, receiving
reports from the Public, taking immediate measures on these reports
where such measures are called for, and taking up investigation, suo
moto, of cognizable crime within their area and continuing it till the
investigation staff from the police station arrives.
When a complaint comes to report anything, the outpost
should take down the complaint and not force him to go to the police
station to make his complaint. It will then be the duty of the outpost to
pass on that complaint to the police station for registering a crime when
this is necessary, or otherwise entering it in the Police Station Diary. The
outpost should maintain a Station Diary and should have a list of all the
criminals and bad characters, all important institutions, places of
trouble, licensed arms and excise dealers, etc., indeed, all that is needed
for the investigation of crime. All other crime records should be kept at
the police station. Excepting the Station Diary, there will be no running
record at the outpost.
The staff assigned to the outposts or to the divisions should
never be withdrawn to meet any law and order situation nor on
important occasions. Except in very grave emergencies, which will be
exceedingly rare in occurrence, the staff should not be moved away. This
is done probably because the Headquarters staff at the police station is
not adequate and because it is in the beat staff that a large bulk of
constabulary is to be found. It is recommended that the beat staff should
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be left to do beat work only and should not be moved to perform other
duties.

Supervision of Beat and Patrol Work

The Sub-Inspector in charge of the outpost should, with the
help of his Head Constable, properly demarcate the routes for night
patrols in the beats, fix the disc points and see that the entire route is
covered in not less than an hour and 45 minutes and in not more than
two hours. He should also properly locate the fixed posts at strategic
points. For day duty, he should fix the areas of patrol or fixed posts at
places where there is the largest gathering of people, near cinema houses
and busy bus stands. He and his Head Constables should be mobile and,
besides supervising the foot patrol work, should form mobile patrols in
that division. Thus in every division, in addition to the foot patrol, mobile
patrols will also be available and will be regularly functioning.
The outpost Sub-Inspector should take active interest in the
work of the beat constable. He should see that the beat constable has
merged himself properly with the community, has got all the necessary,
information of that beat, has kept adequate watch on criminal watch on
criminals, wayward juveniles, places of questionable reputation, and has
in every way proved himself useful to the community. He should guide
the work of the beat constable personally, and if any differences occur
between the constable and members of the public, he should attempt to
reconcile the differences without laying stress on either party‟s fault. He
himself should know all the important people of the area and become
acquainted with them. He should himself take part in all the community
functions in his area and see that the other members of the staff do the
same. He should make the people feel that the outpost is their own and
in this way get the people‟s assistance in his preventive work.
The outpost, the beat constable and the patrols form an
integral part of the new scheme of law enforcement and developing

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community relations, and police work should be developed
simultaneously in all three respects to make it truly successful.
The Officer-in-charge of the police station and the Sub-
Inspector should also form themselves into mobile parties both for
patrolling and supervising the work of the foot patrols. It should be the
duty of the officer-in-charge to take active interest in the working of the
outposts, in demarcating the beats and fixing the routes of the patrols.
He and his officers should go personally over these routes to ensure that
no part of the beat is left out. Most of the important police stations of
Delhi have been given a reserve striking force. A small number from this
can be mounted on cycles or jeeps and used for patrolling strategic
routes on the peripheries where necessary. But, this reserve striking
force should not be made to augment the patrol staff, because it has a
different role to play. The Officer-in-charge should convince him about
the usefulness of the disc system of patrol, the best system of work and
the utility of the outposts, so that he can implement these schemes in
proper spirit.
The Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Sub-
Division and the Deputy Commissioner of Police himself should also
supervise the beat and patrol work as well as the work in the outposts
regularly. Most of the police manuals insist that gazetteer officers should
supervise patrols at least four nights a month and this should be done. It
should be the duty of the Deputy Commissioner to see that the scheme is
functioning properly and not nominally. It should also be his duty to see
that the beat and patrol work does not suffer because men have been
drawn away for some other work. The Deputy Commissioner should take
particular interest in the work of the beat-in-charge constable, because
this is a new type of work, which is being introduced, and without proper
guidance and supervision this work will not develop.

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List of Records to be maintained in each Police Station and out
Posts
Each Police Station is expected to maintain 64 records and
each Out Posts is expected to maintain 20 records. The details of records
to be maintained in each Police Stations and Out Posts are provided in
the following Tables 5.1 & 5.2.
Table 5.1
The Details of Records to be Maintained in each Police Stations
Sl.No. Particulars Form No. Order No.
1. Inspector‟s Visiting Book 25 225
2. A. Cash Book C.F.119 269
3. Casual Leave Register 275
4. Railway Warrant Book 44 296
5. Defaulter Sheets 5 303, 757
6. Medical History Sheets 49 306
7. Register of License under the Arms Act 329,330
8. Register of Arms deposited 54 333
9. Guard Rule (Where standing Guards exist) 337
10. Check Register of KDs and suspects 64 380
11. Sample Signature Book 62 380
12. Beat Books, Duty Roster and Section outdoor work 61,65,66 380,382
ticket
13. Memo Form Book 68 413
14. List of Car and Theppam Festivals 389
15. Reserve Mobilization orders 433
16. General Conviction Register 129 481
17. Alphabetical Index of persons entered in part III 783
and General Conviction Register
18. Check Register of persons entered in part III and 130 481,783
General Conviction Register
19. First Information Report 81 573
20. Case Diary 82 589
21. Charge Sheet 87 595
22. Prisoner‟s Search Register 94 658
23. Register of prisoners handcuffed 96 663
24. Bail and Security Bond of accused 97 680
25. Recognizance Bond of Witness 93
26. Final Report 99 684
27. Notice to complainants in false cases 100 686
28. Search List 102 703
29. Report of property seized 95 704
30. “A” List file 105 719
31. List of Absconding Warrantees 105 719
32. General Diary 84 & 85 734
33. Crimes Abstract 109 737
34. Note Books 738
35. Arrest Report 110 740
36. Bail and a Security Bond of prohibition cases 97 742
37. Process Register 111 743

213
 38. Petty Cases Register 114 744
39. Duty Roster Spl. Function code form
40. Village Roster 116 746
41. Sentry Relief Book 57 747
42. Tapal Book 117 757
43. Visiting Book 118 754
44. Station Crime History 771
45. Personal Records of notified offenders 765
46. Bad Character Roll Form A 131 784 & 794
47. Bad Character Roll Form B 132 795
49. List of persons to notify under sec.565 CRPC 138 805
50. Certificates under Sec. 565 CRPC 135 805
51. Foreigner‟s Roll 132 825
52. Conviction memo, for finger print purposes 140 838
53. Report of death of convicts 146 851
54. Police Gazette File
55. Criminal Intelligence Gazette File
56. District Police sheet line
57. General Memo file
58. Superintendence Circular file
59. Inspector‟s Memo file
60. Magistrate‟s Memo file
61. Commissioner of Policey of sections 30, 30-A and
31 of the Police Act, 1861 (V of 1861)
Source: Commissioner of Police Head Quarters, Chennai

Table 5.2
The Details of Records to be Maintained in each out Post
Sl.No. Particulars Form No. Order
No.
1. General Diary 81 & 85 208
2. Duty Roster 65 & 115 745
3. Note Books 738
4. Commissioner of Policies of History Sheets of 764
persons watched
5. Bad Character Roll, Form A 131 764
6. Bad Character Roll, Form B 132 764
7. Beat Books etc. 61, 65 & 66
8. Sentry Relief Book 57
9. Village Roster 116
10. Inspector‟s Visiting Book 25
11. Memo form book 68 753
12. Tapal Book 117
13. Visiting Book 118
14. File of Correspondence
15. Commissioner of Policey of Orders Nos.4, 208 to
210, 607 763 & 764 volume I of the Madras Police
Standing Orders
16. Check Register of KDs and suspects 64 180
17. Petty Cases Register 114 744
18. Arrest Report 110 740
19. Prisoner‟s Search Register 94 658

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 20. Charge Sheet 87 595
Source: Commissioner of Police Head Quarters, Chennai
At least two Sub-Inspectors on shift system are required to
maintain the various records properly in the Police Stations.
Unfortunately this work is neglected for lack adequate strength in the
Police Station. Similarly in the Out Post at least one Head Constable is
required to maintain the various records. Again this work is neglected in
the Out Post for want of sufficient strength. Therefore steps to be taken
to provide adequate strength in each Police Station and Out Post to
attend to the various records to be maintained.

Jurisdiction of the Police Stations

The jurisdiction of the Police Station should be viable to
carry out the functions relating to law and order and crimes. The
jurisdiction of the Police Station in Chennai city is not viable according to
the Station House Officers of the Police Stations. If the jurisdiction of the
Police Station is decided on the basis of law and order problems, crimes,
area of operation and population, it could be viable for the Police Stations
to carry out the different functions assigned to them.

Building of the Police Stations

There should be sufficient facilities in each Police Station to
carry out the various functions properly. Unfortunately most of buildings
of the Police Stations do not have adequate facilities to carry out the
different functions of the Police Stations. Therefore, the Government
should take steps to provide good buildings to house the Police Stations.
The crime properties and vehicles are kept in the custody of
the police stations. They are lying outside in the open deteriorating day
by day yet the disposal are not seem to be in sight. Motorcars,
motorbikes, scooters and bicycles lie in the open, pending orders for their
disposal. This happens because the trial of cases is delayed. When some

215
property has been seized it cannot disposed of till the case ends. This
being the actual state of affairs, it is necessary that suitable
accommodation in each Police Station should be provided for these
seized objects. A small shed would have protected these vehicles and
prevented deterioration of valuable property. Therefore the Government
should take steps to provide proper accommodation at the police stations
to protect the seized objects.

Problems Relating to Non-Cognizable Offences

It is quite often felt by the people that the police in the Police
Station don‟t register the first information report and take actions on
certain cases reported by them. There are two types of crime. They are
cognizable crime and non-cognizable crime. On cognizable crime, the
police have to register the case and take action. On non-cognizable
offences the police cannot register the first information report and take
action on them. When non-cognizable offences are reported in the Police
Station, the police officers cannot record the first information report and
take action. This position of the Police officers in the Police Stations
should be properly explained to the people. The National Police
Commission has recommended that the non-cognizable offences should
also be recorded in the Station Diary, and the Station House Officers
should try to help the complainants by sending some police personnel to
look into the offence. If this is done, people can have faith in the police
personnel.

Authority and Responsibility

Ability to get things done from others legally is known as
authority. Every officer in the Police Station is vested with authority. He
should also be made responsible for his actions. Unfortunately in India
police officers are vested with authority but they are not made
accountable except on rare occasions for their actions. If authority is
216
related to responsibility, then there is a possibility for the police officers
in the police stations to discharge their functions properly.

Investigation of Cases
It is generally considered that the poor people are not able to
get proper treatment by the police in the Police Stations. It is complained
that the police don‟t take interest to investigate cases relating to poor
people. A contingency fund of rupees 5,000 is kept under the control of
the Station House Officer to meet out the unforeseen expenditures. This
fund is usually spent for the expenses connected with investigation of the
cases. There are rules and regulations in the police department to spend
the contingency fund only for certain categories of expenditure. If a case
has to be attended by an investigating officer far away from the Police
Stations, the police officers have to hire a vehicle to go to the place, for
which there is no provision to spend from the contingency fund to meet
out that expenditure. The police officers cannot spend from their pockets
to visit the place. If the complainant is able to meet out expenditure, the
police take steps to investigate the case. Otherwise they don‟t take
interest in the investigation of the case. Therefore quite often the cases
reported far away from the Police Stations by poor people are not
properly attended. If the Government is prepared to meet out the entire
expenditure connected with the investigation of cases, the poor people
also can get justice from the Police Station.

Registration of Offences
Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code lays down:
“Every information relating to the Commission of a cognizable offence if
given orally to an officer in charge of a police station, shall be reduced to
writing by him or under his direction, and be read over to the informant;
and every such information, whether given in writing or reduced to
writing as aforesaid, shall be signed by the person giving it, and the
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substance thereof shall be entered in a book to be kept by such officer in
such form as the State Government may prescribe in this behalf.”
Unfortunately, it has become the common practice not to
register an offence against property unless it is of a sensational nature or
unless there is a high degree of probability that the offender will be
detected. Also in a case of cheating or fraud which are compoundable
offences, the police would much prefer that the case be settled out of
court than register the crime, though compounding is possible only with
the permission of the court. All this is illegal and amounts to what is
technically called burking. Burking is resorted to for several reasons.
There is, first, the desire to show a record of flattering statistics of crime,
because an officer‟s work is often judged on the basis of the crime
figures. If he can keep back bad and inherently difficult cases and
register only those in which there are good chances of success, he will be
able to display a good record of his performance. On the other hand,
burking may be practiced as a form of corruption, for instance, when in a
case of compromise, money is paid, a share may be given to the police.
Burking is not a malaise confined to India. It is a disease,
which has infected the whole world. But, for the sake of methodical and
scientific investigation, it is necessary that all offences against property
be scrupulously registered and investigated. It is by following up clues
left in individual cases that ultimately the criminal can be traced, even
though many of the individual cases by themselves may not reward the
investigator with success. In offences against property of a particular
nature, group investigation, i.e. investigation of a number of cases
coordinated together produces a much better result than the focusing of
attention on individual cases. It does not mean that the investigation of
individual cases should be delayed till a number of similar cases are
reported. What is meant is that in each subsequent case the clues found
in the previous cases should be taken into consideration.

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 If all crime reported is properly registered, a fertile field of
corruption will be rendered barren. There should be, therefore, less
stress on statistics and less emphasizes on results and better attention
paid to the proper method of work in investigation. All the State Police
Commissions have emphasized this. If the Officer in charge is called
upon to explain every increase of crime in his jurisdiction, he will feel
tempted to suppress many of the less important cases or cases which he
feels the police cannot successfully investigate. On the other hand, if the
approach is made constructively to go to his assistance in order to see
what can be done to stop the increase, the Officer in charge will be
encouraged to register all cases reported and to give a truer picture of the
state of affairs in his police station.
Case diaries are maintained under the provision of Section
172(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This says: “Every police officer
making an investigation under this Chapter shall, day by day, enter his
proceedings in the investigation in a diary, setting forth the time at which
the information reached him, the time at which he began and closed his
investigation, the place or places visited by him, and a statement of the
circumstances ascertained through his investigation.”
The case diary must be dispatched daily at the same hour as
the station diary is dispatched to the Assistant Commissioner of Police in
charge of the sub-division, and in special report cases, to the Deputy
Commissioner of Police also. At the offices of the Assistant Commissioner
and the Deputy Commissioner the receipt of the diaries should be
entered in the register in which the First Information Report has been
entered in an appropriate column meant for the diaries, the number, the
date of the diary and the date of its receipt, all being mentioned. In every
case where a dairy is received after delay, the Assistant Commissioner or
the Deputy Commissioner, as the case may be, must immediately call for
the reason for the delay and satisfy him that a satisfactory explanation is
forthcoming.
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 It is generally complaint that the case diaries are not being
written by the Investigating Officers for days together, and sometimes not
till a case has been completely worked out or a final report is about to be
submitted, and then all the previous diaries are prepared together and
ante-dated to cloak them with the appearance of authenticity. This is a
most irregular, if not dishonest, practice which leaves avenues open for
corruption, distortion, padding, fabrication, etc., and it is unfortunate
and regrettable that the supervising police officers have tolerated this
state of affairs to persist. It is essential that the Deputy Commissioner
and the Assistant Commissioners of Police make a joint and sustained
effort to see that this mal-practice of holding up case diaries is
completely stopped.
A case diary should always be written in the form prescribed
for it. All annexure, that is, statements, under Section 161 Code of
Criminal Procedure should be attached to the diaries at the time of their
dispatch to the office of the Assistant Commissioner or the Deputy
Commissioner of Police. All pages in the case diary book must be serially
numbered and all missing pages must be accounted for.

Final Report and Charge Sheet

Section 173(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code lays down
that “Every investigation under this Chapter shall be completed without
unnecessary delay, and as soon as it is completed, the Officer in charge
of the Police Station shall forward to the Commissioner empowered to
take cognizance of the offence on a police report, in the form prescribed
by the State Government, etc. etc. Section 193(2) also lays down that
“where a superior police officer has been appointed under Section 158,
this report shall in any cases in which the State Government by generally
or special order so directs, be submitted through that officer, and he
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may, pending the order of the Commissioner, direct the Officer in charge
of the Police station to make further investigation.”
This section deals with either the final report, which is
submitted in case where the police are unable to detect and trace and
apprehend the accused, or with the charge sheet, which is submitted
when the police detect a case, apprehends the culprit and sends him to
court for trial.
By this triple supervisory control, i.e., of the court, of the
Deputy Commissioner and of the Assistant Commissioner, and the
proper discharge of his responsibility by the Officer in charge himself, it
should be possible to ensure that the investigation of cases is not
unnecessarily delayed and that every case is investigated as quickly as
possible and disposed of by submitting the charge-sheet or the final
report as the case may be.
It followed, therefore, that except in very important cases,
which are handled by the Officer in charge or other senior officers, the
investigation of most cases is defective.

Specialists Assistance
In Chennai city, mobile units of photographers and
fingerprint experts have been provided and these can and should be
requisitioned by the investigating officer as soon as he, after reaching the
place of occurrence, finds their services necessary.
Mobile teams of scientists including a photographer, a finger
print expert, a scientist and a pathologist have been provided under the
Deputy Commissioner of Police and whenever necessary, requisitions can
be sent for these specialists and it should be possible to get them at the
sport in most cases within half an hour of the requisition.
Tracker Dogs have been provided under the Deputy
Commissioner of Police and services of these dogs can be requisitioned
whenever there is a prospect of tracking the culprit.
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 The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crimes) has been given
a special investigating staff to make independent enquiries or to assist in
the enquiries by police stations, and if a police station finds a case
beyond its capacity, it should ask for assistance from the Deputy
Commissioner‟s Central Crime Branch.
The Crime Branch, CID (Criminal Investigation Department)
has special investigation squads for dealing with various subjects and
cases of a very complicated nature. The Criminal Investigation
Department can either give assistance in investigation by the local
officers or take charge of the investigation completely. It will be matter for
the Deputy Commissioner of Police to decide whether he should assume
complete charge or only assist.
The investigating officer should know that he is not in the
field alone like his counterpart in a rural area. He not only has his own
Officer-in-charge as well as his Assistant Commissioner of Police
available at hand to give him day-to-day guidance even at the spot, but
he has all the above-mentioned specialists‟ services at his disposal and
he can call for them whenever he finds the need for any assistance.
Normally the investigating officer should depend on his own resources,
but there should be no hesitation in asking for the Deputy
Commissioner‟s mobile technical team if finger or foot-impressions are
found or in calling the mobile scientific team of the Criminal
Investigation Department, if other types of evidence are available or
suspected. In very few crimes the victim and the criminal would belong to
the area of the same police station, and so the assistance from the
Crimes Record Bureau may be needed to trace the criminal, and this
should be sought without any hesitation. There is normally no substitute
for tracking by dogs, and so when tracking by scent seems possible, dogs
should be immediately requisitioned. Yet, the investigating officer should
not all the time wait to the spoon-fed, he himself must make every effort
to detect the case.
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Medico-Legal Examination
In offences against persons, investigation is often delayed
due to the non-receipt of the report of the medico-legal examination. This
is strange because in any city the medico-legal report should be available
the day the person is sent for medical examination. The delaying of the
medico-legal report is open to gross abuse, and therefore the
Administration must take up this matter with the Medical Department
and see that the hospitals which undertake the examination of persons
sent by the police do send the injury statement or the post-mortem
report immediately and without delay. There should be no complaint
regarding the inadequacy of medical staff for conducting such
examination. It should, however, be ensured that medical officers who
are entrusted with medico-legal examination have done a post-graduate
medico-legal course.

Legal Advisor
In simple cases, all police officers should be able to decide on
the legality of any action they are about to take or have taken, or the
validity of the evidence they have collected, and be able to complete the
investigation or take preventive action without reference to any other
authority. The Officer in charge himself will be a very senior officer and
he should be able to guide his subordinates in all legal matters. But
there may be some complicated cases in which expert legal advice is
necessary. In all such cases the Legal Advisor in the Commissionerate
Office should be consulted by the Officer in charge and the Legal Advisor
may himself give the advice to find out whether any factual or legal
loopholes have been left in the investigation, so that these points may be
looked into before the charge sheet is submitted. From the number of
cases, which, according to the inquiry, are returned for further
investigation by the Prosecuting Officers after the charge sheet, is
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submitted, it is clear that the investigating officers are not diligent in
completing the investigation in all its details both factual and legal. Prior
and more frequent consultation with the Legal Advisors will remedy this
defect.

Service of Process
There is much complaint that the police do not take any
interest in the service of process, with the result that cases are
unnecessarily delayed and adjournments have to be granted causing
inconvenience to all concerned. This is also detrimental to the case
because the longer the case is delayed, the less the chance of its ending
in an order of conviction. Allegations have also been made that the police
deliberately delay the trial, as having already received satisfaction in
another manner they are not interested in the result. This accusation is
probably not completely true, but there should be a more convincing
explanation for the delay in the service of process. If the police are really
interested in getting the trial completed in the shortest possible time, it
should take an active interest to see that the processes are served
immediately they are received and are not held up. The Constable or the
Head Constable who serves the process may delay its service by
colluding with the persons summoned, and the Officer in charge may not
know this fact.
To deal with this difficulty, the business of serving process
has been made the responsibility of the divisional officer for each
division. The reason for this is that the divisional staff together with the
patrol and the beat staff should know practically every inhabitant of that
division and beat, and therefore service of process can be best done by
this staff. Moreover this function can be performed during the normal
execution of other duties. Though a Constable has been provided in each
Division or Outpost for this purpose, the Divisional Sub-Inspector should
not entrust all this service to one Constable, but should distribute wok to
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all his Head Constables and Constables so that the execution can be
done without delay. At each police station and in each division a register
should be maintained giving the details of the process, the date of its
receipt, the date of execution of the process and the date of its return to
the court. The Officer in charge or his second-in-command should
carefully inspect this register at least once a week to see that no process
is being unnecessarily delayed and if he finds any delay, he should
immediately call up the persons responsible and get the service effected.
The Officer in charge as well as the Divisional Sub-Inspector
should also make a concerted drive to see that no corruption creeps into
the service of processes.

Follow-up Action
It has been a general complaint that the police after
submitting a charge sheet are not interested in the case any more. What
happens is that the cases remain pending in court for one reason or
another for long periods and the Sub-Inspector does not take any
interest to see what is happening. There is a register called Crime
Register, which has been kept in each police station in Chennai. The
Officer in charge of the police station maintains this. Entries are made
chronologically FIR (First Information Report) - wise on one page allotted
to each First Information Report and all details of case such as the time
and place of occurrence, time of the report, particulars of the accused,
nature of the case, progress of investigation, submission of case diaries
and final results of investigation, etc./ are all recorded. If in this register
one column for the progress of the trial and its result is also provided, it
will help the Officer-in-charge to watch the progress of the case in the
post-investigation period also.
With the help of this register, the Officer in charge and his
second-in-command should be able to keep a watch on the progress of
the case in court. The investigating officer of the particular case should
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also be asked, after each hearing, to come and report to the Officer in
charge about the progress so that appropriate entries can be made in the
register. In case of delay, the Officer in charge should also be in touch
with the Prosecuting officer of the case, and if he feels that the case is
being delayed unnecessarily in the court, he should bring the matter to
the notice of the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the sub-
division so that the latter may take the matter up with the Legal Advisor.
The Officer in charge should also record in this register the
orders of the court under Section 106 or 562 or 565 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, and take the necessary follow-up action in all such
cases. The Officer in charge should also see that all persons convicted of
offences against property or of offences like counterfeiting, etc. are made
to give their finger-prints and these are sent to the Finger-print Bureau.
They should get the classification of the fingerprints and enter it in the
convict‟s history-sheet.
The various facilities that have been recommended will assist
the investigating officer in every way possible. But the ultimate success
of a case depends on the intelligence, perspective and devotion with
which the officer pursues the investigation, because luck is a poor
substitute for talent and earnest endeavour.

Prosecution of Cases
Crime Administration work, so far as the police is concerned,
has three different stages, each a necessary adjunct to the other two.
They are:
1. Prevention of Crime;
2. Detection of Crime and apprehension of the offender; and
3. Prosecution of the offender and his conviction.
Each stage is important each section of the Crime
Administration machine must function properly to achieve the desired
results. In the last two chapters we have dealt with the subject of
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Prevention and Detection of Crime. We now come to the third stage, i.e.,
the prosecution of the offender and his conviction. It is necessary that as
much attention be paid to this work as is paid to prevention and
investigation. If criminals are acquitted due to shortcomings in the
process of prosecution, the entire labor of the other two branches will be
stultified.
Under Section 61 of the Code of Criminal Procedure: “No
Police Officer shall detain in custody a person arrested without warrant
for a longer period than, under all the circumstances of the case, is
reasonable and such period shall not, in the absence of a special order of
Magistrate under Section 167, exceed 24 hours exclusive of the time
necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the Magistrate‟s
court.” When the Police arrest a person on a specific charge, they may
either admit him to bail, if the offence is boilable and the accused offers
sufficient surety, or they may forward him to the Magistrate within 24
hours of the arrest.
The Magistrate then can remand the accused person under
Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code for a maximum period of 14
days. In the Chapter, Legal Impediments and Handicaps, we have dealt
with the provisions of Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code, and
agreeing with the recommendations of the Law Commission, we have
suggested that this section should be amended so that the Magistrate
can remand an accused person in custody for a period not exceeding 15
days at a time up to a maximum period of two months in normal cases
and even beyond that period if the Magistrate is satisfied that the
investigation cannot be completed within that period despite the best
efforts of the police. At present the prosecution agency does not bother
itself at all about what happens to the case after the initial remand is
given. It must, however, be its responsibility to watch the progress of the
investigation in all cases in which a remand under Section 167 Criminal
Procedure Code has been given and to satisfy itself and also the
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Magistrate that further remand, when asked for, is necessary. To do this,
the prosecution agency must have the record available.
Section 173(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides:
“Every investigation under this chapter shall be completed without
unnecessary delay, and as soon as it is completed, the Officer-in-charge
of the Police Station shall (a) Forward to a Magistrate empowered to take
cognizance of the offence on a police report, in the form prescribed by the
State Government, setting forth the names of the parties, the nature of
the information and the names of the persons who appear to be
acquainted with the circumstances of the case,…..”. This section clearly
lays down that the investigation must be conducted promptly, and as
soon as the investigation is completed, a final report should be submitted
to the court in the prescribed form. The final report may be of two types -
one in which the police have not been able to detect a crime or have been
unable to apprehend the offender and the other in which the police have
been able to detect the crime and apprehend the offender. The latter is
usually called the charge sheet. In both cases, it is the duty of the
prosecution agency to place the papers before the Magistrate
immediately, and obtain the Magistrate‟s final orders. Normally when a
final report is submitted in a case in which the police have not been able
to trace the crime or in which there is not enough evidence to warrant
the trial of an accused person, the Commissioner accepts the final
report; but it is for the prosecution agency to scrutinize the diaries and
decide whether in fact there is enough evidence available for charging an
accused, and whether further investigation may help to secure the
additional evidence required. As regards the case where a charge sheet is
submitted, the Magistrate must take cognizance, fix a date for the trial
and issue the necessary summons or warrants. It is the duty of the
prosecution agency to see that the accused persons are given the
Commissioner of Police of all the papers containing the evidence, which

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the prosecution will produce to prove the charge, and prepare itself for
presenting the case in a fair and proper manner before the Court.
The various State Police Commissions who have gone into
the matter, have held that the prosecution agencies, in the various
States, are not up to the mark, and much of the failure of police cases in
courts is due to defective handling by the prosecuting agency. Though
different commissions have made different recommendations about the
Prosecuting Agency, they are all unanimous in the view that the agency
requires to be radically improved. In the chapter, Prosecution Staff, we
have recommended the recruitment of a better type of prosecuting officer
on higher scales of pay and outside the police cadre, though under the
Commissioner of Police. It is hoped that the new staff when appointed
will be able to handle all police cases adequately, and there will be no
further complaints about the inefficiency of the prosecution staff.
The Criminal Procedure Code requires that the trial of a
criminal case should be completed promptly. Unfortunately, the
experience in Chennai has been that cases have remained pending for
many months and often for over a year. The Commissioner allege that
these delays take place because the police do not produce the witnesses;
they do not execute the summons; there are not enough prosecuting
officers to prosecute the cases; and they themselves, as also the
prosecutors, are often called away to perform executive duties.
The police allege that there are unnecessary adjournments
and very often the case is postponed because the Magistrate is called for
executive work; the witnesses are thereby harassed and they get
discouraged; the witnesses are not paid adequate compensation for the
day lost in attending court; there is no proper arrangement for the
accommodation of the witnesses while they wait to be called for their
examination; court attendance is most unpopular and so the witnesses
evade the service of summons; and summons and warrants are often

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received too late, or with insufficient particulars, and so their service
before the prescribed date becomes impracticable.
The prosecution agency alleges that there are not enough
Magistrates, with the result that case-load is too heavy, and this leads to
frequent adjournments; the prosecuting staff is insufficient and each
prosecutor has to run from one court to another every day to prosecute
cases; due to the frequent absence of Magistrates on executive duty,
cases are repeatedly postponed; the prosecutors are often mobilized for
executive duties; and the police do not pay much attention to the service
of summons or warrants. The delays were caused by a combination of all
the above factors, and were most of all due to; lack of proper
arrangement of the work by Magistrates, and non-service of summons.
It seems that in Chennai where police in large numbers have
to be deputed for maintaining order very frequently, Magistrates are also
deputed along with them, and this causes frequent interruptions in
judicial work. Therefore it is recommended that the judiciary should be
separated from the executive.
What remains is to organize the work in the prosecution
agency so that from the time a first information report is received to the
time the case is filed by the magistrate or the accused is convicted and
sentenced or acquitted, the prosecution agency can keep watch over
progress of investigation and trial and bring, to the notice of the Deputy
Commissioner, or the court any deficiencies either in the investigation or
in the trial. Moreover many records have to be maintained, properties
exhibited and taken charge of, processes handled, fingerprints of
convicted persons obtained and correspondence kept up with the police
stations regarding the cases. The prosecution agency has also to prepare
crime statistics and issue memos about cases in which trials have ended
to the police station and the Deputy Commissioner of Police concerned.
It is recommended that the Commissioner of Police of the
First Information Report, which the Station House Officer sends to the
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court, should go through the Court Office where it will be entered in
General Register No.1. The Prosecuting Officer will put up the register
with the First Information Report to the Magistrate and get his initials on
the register and also on the First Information Report. The First
Information Report then will remain in the custody of the Court Officer.
When the Station House Officer for a remand sends an
accused in custody, the prayer is accompanied by a report stating the
circumstances due to which the investigation could not be completed
and why it is necessary to remand the accused in custody. This report
should, as is the practice at present, come to the Prosecuting Officer,
who will produce it before the magistrate, attaching the First Information
Report with it along with the register. At that stage the magistrate has to
start an Order Sheet, which should remain on the magistrate‟s record
but its Commissioner of Police should go to the Prosecutor to be filed
with his record, and he will intimate the investigating officer of the order
passed by the magistrate. In case the Station House Officer cannot
complete his enquiry within the period of remand and prays for further
remand, this application should also come to the Prosecuting Officer,
who will put it up to the magistrate‟s record and in the Commissioner of
Police held by the Prosecuting Officer. The latter to the investigating
officer will communicate the order. All these facts will find mention in the
General Register No.1 of the Court Office.
When the final report comes declaring the case to be „not-
detected‟, this will also come to the Prosecuting Officer, who, after the
necessary scrutiny, if he accepts the finding of the investigating officer,
will produce it before the magistrate and obtain his orders for filing the
case. This will also be entered in the General Register No.1 and separate
final Memo should be issued both to the Deputy Commissioner and to
the police station concerned immediately intimating the final order of the
magistrate. It is understood that the Commissioner can devise a simple
form.
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 When it is proposed to „charge sheet ‟ an accused, the
present practice is that the investigating officer first sends a preliminary
charge sheet and the Prosecuting Officer goes through the record and
gives his opinion whether the case is fit to be charge-sheeted or whether
further investigation is necessary. In either case, he conveys his opinion
to the Investigating Officer. The Investigating Officer then either submits
the formal charge sheet if the Prosecuting Officer finds it in order or
conducts further investigation and then sends a final charge sheet. The
Commission doubts the legality of this particular procedure, and is of the
view that, under Section 157 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the
submission of the charge sheet to the Magistrate cannot be delayed.
Actually, in Bombay where the system of prosecution is the same as is
being recommended for Delhi, charge-sheets are put up direct to the
magistrate, and the Prosecuting Officer makes his own comments, which
are communicated to the Investigating Officer who makes further
investigation, if necessary. The Commission has also suggested that the
best course would be that the Investigating Officer, towards the close of
his investigation, consults the Prosecutor informally on the evidence he
has collected and obtain the Prosecutor‟s advice at that stage. In this
manner much of the delay will be eliminated.
When the charge sheet is received, it comes to the
Prosecuting Officer and he puts it up to the Magistrate. The Magistrate
then takes cognizance of the case, enters it in his judicial record and
posts it to a particular date. These facts have to be entered in General
Register No.1 and at each stage the Prosecuting Officer should keep the
Investigating Officer informed of the order of the magistrate as soon as it
is passed. For this purpose, also, there is no particular form; but if a
form can be devised, it would be most useful.
When the court issues process for the attendance of
witnesses, the summons and warrants come to the Court Office and are
entered in a Summons and Warrants Register in Form 27.16(4). Then
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they are sent to the police station for service. The Commission has
recommended that in the Police Station also a proper register should be
maintained of the receipt of each summon and its execution. The Court
Officer should also maintain a watch over the execution of the process.
When a process is executed by the Police Station, it should again be
returned to the magistrate through the court office, where the fact will be
entered in the Register of Summons and Warrants. It will be the duty of
the Prosecuting Officer to keep a watch on the execution of process. The
magistracy has made a complaint that the most fruitful single cause of
delay in trials is the non-execution of process. So the Prosecuting Officer
should always bring immediately to the notice of the Chief Prosecutor
such cases where failures have taken place and the Chief Prosecutor will
take the necessary steps in consultation with the Assistant
Commissioner of Police in charge of Sub-Division.
Fingerprints of almost all convicted persons are obtained and
after entering the conviction in the General Register, fingerprint slips are
prepared for dispatch to the different Finger-Print Bureau in India. This
work should continue to be handled by the Court Office.
There should be separate staff in the Deputy Commissioner
of Police‟s Office for his crime records. Therefore, the Deputy
Commissioner of Police should no longer depend on the Court Office for
maintaining his crime records. This measure will relieve the Court Office
of a great deal of its present voluminous office work and leave the
prosecution staff free to be in compete charge of prosecution of cases.
Having heard all the witnesses, the Commission is of the
view, that the conduct of cases in courts and the work connected with it
needs to be considerably improved. After taking into consideration the
various factors the Commission recommends for the reasons mentioned
above are the separation of the judiciary from the executive so that the
judicial magistrates are not called out for executive duties resulting in
unnecessary adjournment of cases; the fixing of the number of judicial
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magistrates according to caseload should be about 300 a year by the
yardstick accepted in general.
Separating the prosecuting agency from the police cadre
through keeping the former in the Police Department, so that they
cannot be called out for any executive work and will be employed entirely
on the prosecution of cases; a better status and pay scale for Prosecuting
Officer to be recruited from the Bar in order to attract really good persons
for these posts; fixing the strength of the Prosecuting Agency, so that one
whole-time Prosecutor is available for each whole-time court; and
providing under the Legal Advisors, a proper Court Office under a Senior
Prosecutor who will receive and dispose of all papers coming from the
police stations to the court and going back to the police stations from the
court and who will keep the Deputy Commissioner of Police informed
about the progress in the cases.
At present though there is a Court space to keep the seized
property attached to Chennai city, yet because of the shortage of space
much of the property is left behind in the police station where, too, there
is insufficient space, with the result that many articles remain lying
outside in the open and deteriorating. It is imperative that all the
property, which is exhibited in a case, should be in the custody of the
Court Officer, and every effort should be made by the Administration to
provide adequate accommodation in or adjacent to the court building for
this purpose.
The separation of the judiciary from the executive will make
possible effective control and supervision by the Sessions Judge over the
work of the judicial magistrates. Relieved of their executive and
miscellaneous duties, the judicial magistrates will also be able to devote
their entire time to casework. There will be no more excuses for
unnecessary adjournments due to involvement in executive work. The
improvement in the pay scales of the prosecution staff will allow more
experienced lawyers to come into this organization and stay there. The
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separation of the prosecution staff from the uniformed police will lead to
better efficiency in their work, and also, there will be no waste of time by
their being frequently called out to perform executive duties. Provision of
more Senior Prosecutors and a Legal Advisor will allow greater
supervision of the prosecution work. Similarly, the institution of the post
of Legal Adviser under the Commissioner of Police will promote efficiency
and the control. Keeping the Prosecutors under the Commissioner of
Police will ensure that there is no lack of co-operation between the police
and the prosecuting staff. The training of the Prosecutors in the Police
Training College and their subsequent practical training in police
stations will also inculcate in them a better understanding of police
problems. Decentralization of the courts, will induce in everyone a
greater sense of responsibility, and the Deputy Commissioner of Police
will feel personally involved in prosecution work. Establishment of a
proper Court office under the Legal Advisors will also give the
Prosecuting Agency a more businessmen like appearance. All these steps
will ultimately lead to greater efficiency in prosecution work and speedier
disposal of cases.

Supervision
A great deal of police work is done by a policeman
functioning singly as an individual charged with certain duties and
responsibilities. At most road-crossings, the point duty constable stands
alone, the daytime beat or a single policeman performs static duty other
than traffic duty. One constable unaccompanied by anyone else does
even the night patrol on some beats. Many awkward situations which
arise suddenly have to be handled by a lone constable who is at his static
or ambulatory post Indeed, unless a riotous mob has to be faced or a
gang of criminals pursued and apprehended, policemen work singly or in
pairs. Much of the investigation is conducted by the Investigating
235
Officers acting singly, whether he be an Investigating Officer may be
accompanied by one or more Constables, or Head Constable does not
relieve him of complete and unshared responsibility in the matter of
whatever he is doing. For all practical purposes, he is for the most part
acting singly without restraint and without the criticism and advice of his
superior officers. When he returns to the police station and submits his
report, he no doubt, comes under the shelter or censure of his superior;
but by then some matters have been disposed of, some decisions have
been irrevocably taken and a definite shape has been given to the future
course of action. Perhaps mistakes have been committed, a wrong
decision has been made, some essential point has been ignored, or may
be a tempting opportunity has been availed of in some form of
misconduct or mal-practice. It is, therefore, his superiors should review
essential that the work of every policeman should be constantly
supervised and at all ranks the police officers‟ performance of his duties.
Close and unceasing vigilance, in this behalf, will not only check
mistakes and shortcomings but also provide the necessary advice and
guidance at the stage where it is most needed and where it can prove of
the greatest benefit.
There must be supervision at every state, i.e., a Head
Constable will supervise the work of a Constable, a Sub-Inspector that of
a Head Constable and Assistant Sub-Inspector and the Inspector that o
Sub-Inspector and all lower ranks. But in the scheme of District
Administration, the main supervising officers are the officer-in-charge of
the police station, the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the
Sub-division, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, the Additional
Commissioner and the Commissioner of Police. Each of these officers
must exercise the fullest supervision over the work of his subordinates,
and their direction and guidance should be conveyed down different
ranks to the lowest and the most numerous and, in a way, the most
important functionary in the police, the Constable.
236
All Women Police Station in Chennai City
There are 34 all Women Police Stations in Chennai city. The
details relating to the location of All Women Police Stations in Chennai
city are provided in the following table 5.3
Table 5.3
Location of All Women Police Stations in Chennai City
Si.No Locations of All Women Police Station Land Line Number
1. Adyar 044-23452586
2. Anna Nagar 044-23452726
3. Ashok Nagar 044-23452623
4. Ayanavaram 044-26440649
5. Egmore 044-28455168
6. Guindy 044-24700011
7. Harbor 044-25340598
8. High Court 044-25340410
9. Kilpauk 044-23452700
10. M.K.B. Nagar 044-2345222
11. Neelankarai 044-24493663
12. Peravallore 044-23452708
13. Pullianthope 044-23452523
14. Royapuram 044-23452509
15. Royapettah 044-28132523
16. Saidepet 044-24330571
17. T.Nagar 044-23452614
18. Teyanampet 044-23452640
19. Triplicane 044-23452659
20. Thirumanagalam 044-23452708
21. Thiruvotriyur 044-25991512
22. Thousand Lights 044-23452685
23. Vadapalani 044-23452635
24. Vepery 044-23452726
25. Villivakam 044-23452774
26. Washermenpet 044-25982488
27. Ambattur 044-23452767
28. Avadi 044-26553767

237
 29. Ennore 044-25750600
30. Madhavaram 044-23452781
31. Madipakkam 044-24493663
32. Poonamalee 044-26492211
33. St. Thomas mount 044-22313762
34. Tambaram 044-24493663
Tamil Nadu Women Police station Contact numbers-2017
The details relating to location of All Women Police Stations
in Chennai City provided in the above table reveal that there are 34 All
Women Police Stations.
An analysis of the role of women police in India reveals that
Women police assist the Policemen when women and juvenile offenders
are dealt with by Policemen. They are made use of in bandobust duty
where women in large numbers gather during fairs, festivals, VIP visits
and functions. They are made use of for escorting women suspects and
offenders from Prisons to Courts. They are employed in lockup duty
when women suspects and offenders are kept in Police lockups. They are
employed in frisking duty at Airports. Women police in Calcutta are
14
made use of in public relations work . Women police in Andhra Pradesh
15
are made use of in traffic control and regulation work . Women police in
Karnataka are made use of as Receptionists in the Police Officers‟
16
Offices . Women police in Delhi are made use of to perform a number of
duties. They are duty Officers work, investigation of cases against
women, Prime Minister‟s darshan duty, President‟s darshan duty and
17
frisking duty at Airport .
In short, Women police have been mainly made use of to deal
with women and juvenile offenders. National Police Commission has
recommended that Women police should be made use of for a number of

14
Pandurangan.K., Women Police in India, Madurai CRUS, 1983, p.53.
15
Ibid., p.36.
16
Ibid., P.37.
17
Ibid (PP.37 – 38)

238
duties in the years to come. They are:18 road traffic regulation and road
traffic control duties in large towns involving guarding of pedestrian
crossings and approaches to school; dealing with women including
search, arrest, questioning women suspects who have or are suspected of
having committed an offence; crime investigation in general; handling
and investigating cases involving vices or sexual offences, such as rape,
trafficking in women and sexual offences against children; general foot
and / or vehicular patrol duty; social work and child welfare such as
handling cases involving missing or badly treated children, liaison works
with social welfare organizations, and agencies, and assisting women and
children in distress; juvenile delinquency case work; clerical work;
telecommunications Equipment Operators, Switchboard Operators and
related work; prosecution duties in cases involving minor offences
committed by young person‟s brought before Magistrates or Juvenile
Courts; immigration duties and checks on travelers, especially female
travelers, at Airports and other points of entry into the country; guarding
female prisoners; fingerprinting work in Criminal Investigation
Department; public relations work in order to help create better image of
Police; instructions in Police Training Institutes; crime prevention work
such as giving talks in Secondary Schools on Police work and in
particular on road safety regulations; crowd control duties at special
events; special Branch and security work; protection of female Very
Important Persons; drug related case work; administration and guard
duties at prisons for women; technical and document examination work;
police drivers; and police social welfare activities.
A critical evaluation of the functions carried out by the
women police and the functions that have been recommended for the
Woman Police makes it clear that Women police can be allowed to
perform different types of work that are being carried out in the Police

18
INDIA Fifth Report of the National Police Commission, New Delhi, 1980, pp.58 – 59.

239
Department. Woman Police recruited in Indian Police Service are allowed
to carry out all the functions of the Police Department as any other
Policemen of their rank. Therefore, it is desirable to make use of the
Women police of different cadres to carry out the different duties of the
Police Department.
The Constitution of India has not only granted equality to
women but also empowered the State to adopt measures of positive
discrimination in favor of women for neutralizing to cumulative socio-
economic, educational rights, among other things, ensure equality before
law, equal protection of law, prohibits discrimination against any citizen
on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth and guarantees
equality of opportunity to all citizens in matters relating to employment.
Articles 14, 15, 15(3), 16, 39(a), 39(c), and 42 of the constitution are of
specific importance in this regard.
The Constitution provides equal rights to women. They are
allowed to take up any job they like. Discrimination of women in any one
Government Service is not permitted. Women Police at I.P.S. cadre are
not discriminated. They are treated in the same way as Policemen are
treated and perform all types of Police duties. But women Police in the
cadre of Inspector and below in most of the States of India are not
treated equally in case of recruitment, training and promotion. They are
not allowed to perform all types of Police duties. An analysis of the role
assigned to the women police in the different States reveal that they
could be employed and made use of in the different types of police duties.
If the women police are found suitable in carrying out the different duties
of the Police Department, there is no harm in utilizing their services. No
doubt, they are more suitable to deal with women and juvenile offenders.
But their services should not be limited to these functions alone. They
should be integrated with the total Police force as I.P.S. women, to
ensure utilization of more women in the Police department as the policy
of the Central Government and State Governments is to provide 33%
240
reservation for women in all services including the police service. In
Tamil Nadu 195 All Women Police Stations have been created in order to
utilize more number of women police in the Police Department. In order
to integrate the women police with police men and thereby to provide
more opportunities for women police, it is necessary to identify the role of
women police in various duties which could be performed better by them.
The research studies on the role of Women Police in all
Women Police Stations make it clear that majority of the respondents are
highly satisfied or satisfied with the duties carried out in the All Women
Police Stations and majority of the respondents strongly agree or agree
that they can perform better the duties recommended for Women Police
by National Police Commission. Majority of the respondents felt that
certain duties in other Units of the Police Department can be performed
well by women police and certain duties can be performed better by
police men. Certain duties which can be performed better by women
police cannot be performed well by police men. In the same manner
certain duties which can be performed well by police men cannot be
performed better by women police. According to our study the duties
which can be carried out well by police men than women police are Fixed
Guards Duty at the Residences of VIPs, Fixed Guards at Various
Installations Like the Powerhouse, Water Works, etc., Escorts for
Prisoners, Patrols Etc., in the Outlying Areas, Law and Order Work,
Drivers, Tear Smoke Squad, Band Duty, VIP Security, Security of
Important Installations, Crimes Record Bureau or Modus Operandi
Bureau, Homicide, Kidnapping and Abduction, Dacoity, Robbery,
Burglary and Ordinary Thefts, Thefts of Automobiles, Cheating, Forgery
and Counter Feiting, Criminal Breach of Trust and Criminal
Misappropriation, Including Chit Funds, Smuggling and Prohibition,
Social Defense, Juvenile Aid, Dog Unit, Field Intelligence Groups Duty,
Interceptions, Protection Intelligence, Reporters, Miscellaneous Enquiry
Work, Foreigners Regional Registration Office, Railway Policing, Welfare
241
Department, Stores Department, Public Relations Wing. All other duties
can be performed well by women police. The duties which can be
performed well by police men and women police have been identified in
other Units of the Police Department. Police men and women police
should be utilized in the various duties which can be performed well by
them so that the Police Department could utilize their services properly.
A perusal of the duties carried out by women police makes it
clear that women police in All Women Police Stations mainly attend to
the grievances of women. Though women police in All Women Police
Stations are given the power to register and investigate all dowry related
cases, the cases that are put an end by counseling only, are dealt with by
All Women Police Stations. The dowry related cases and other cases
under Indian Penal Code and Special and Local Laws are referred to the
concerned Police Stations where police men are given the responsibility
to investigate the cases and the women police assist in the investigation
of cases. This arrangement makes it clear that All Women Police Stations
mainly attend to the grievances of women. Women living in big cities can
very easily approach the All Women Police Stations and get their
grievances solved. Women living in rural areas also have problems. They
cannot go to cities all the way from the villages to express their problems
and get their problems solved. There are more than one thousand fifteen
Law and Order Police Stations in Tamil Nadu as on 2011. All Women
Police Stations cannot be created as Police Stations are created in the
different parts of Tamil Nadu to attend to the problems of rural women as
it has been already pointed out. A suitable organization to attend to the
problems of women both rural and urban areas is required.
All Women Police Stations mainly attend to the grievances of
women and children. The grievances are mainly settled through
counseling. Therefore, women police who are qualified and trained in
counseling work are required. Unfortunately women police are not
trained in counseling work. Women police in All Women Police Stations
242
get the assistance of Social Workers working in the Social Welfare
Department for counseling work. Therefore, women police officers are not
properly utilized in the All Women Police Stations for the purposes for
which they have been recruited. Since the grievances of women are
mainly settled through counseling work, it is necessary to recruit trained
women police on counseling work and post them in All Women Police
Stations.
The number of crimes committed against women has grown
considerably in India as well as in Tamil Nadu. The statistics regarding
the crimes committed against women are of different kinds. They are Eve
Teasing, Dowry Death, Attempt to Murder of Dowry, Cruelty by husband
or his relatives, Death Due to non Dowry, Rape, Kidnapping and
Abduction, Molestation, Problems in working environment, etc.
Special units have been created to deal with crimes
committed against women. They are Dowry Cell, Abduction and
Kidnapping Unit, Anti Vice Squad (Suppression of Immoral Traffic in
Women) Unit and Juvenile Aid Unit.
These units mainly consist of policemen and women police
assist the policemen in these units. In addition to the above special
units, few more special units have to be created to deal with eve-teasing,
rape, molestation, harassment in the working places, etc. Since Women‟s
problems could be effectively dealt with by the various specialized units
dealing with crime against women, it is necessary that these units
should consist of trained women police instead of manned by policemen
at present.
Women also commit large number of crimes. The various
crimes committed under different crimes heads under IPC and Special
and Local Laws make it clear that women commit lot of crimes and these
crimes are dealt with in the concerned Police Stations by Policemen.
Since women police are more suited to deal with women offenders, it is

243
necessary that women police should be allowed to handle these
problems.
The details relating to the total number of Police Stations
and the total number of All Women Police Stations reveal that there are
1273 Police Stations and 195 All Women Police Stations in Tamil Nadu.
Women have problems and their problems need to be attended by
Women Police. If the affected women can go to the nearby Police Stations
and could solve the problems, it is well and good. The Government
cannot create All Women Police Stations in all the places where Police
Stations are created. Therefore, instead of creating All Women Police
Stations in selected places, if All Women Police Units are created in the
Police Stations, the affected women can go to the nearby Police Stations
and could solve their problems. The discussions held with the Police
Officers reveal that women police are suited to perform majority of the
police duties carried out in the police department. The policy of Central
and State Governments is to provide 33% reservation for women in all
services including the police service. In order to utilize the services of the
women police properly, the researcher wanted to find out whether women
police could perform the different kinds of police duties carried out in the
police department.

Railway Policing in Tamil Nadu and Railway Police Station in

Chennai City
Incidence of IPC crimes reported in the state during 2009
has shown an increase over 2008. A total of 450, 637 and 660 IPC
crimes were reported by GRPs during 2007 to 2009 respectively at the
state level reflecting an increase of 41.6% in 2008 over 2007 and an
increase of 3.6% in 2009 over 2008.19 Chennai railway police and Trichy
railway police have shown an increasing trend during 2007 - 2009
similar to the state trend. Chennai railway police and Trichy railway

19 Table 19.1, Crime Review, State Crime Records Bureau, Tamil Nadu, 2009.

244
police have shown an increasing trend over the last 3 years. Chennai
railway police reported an increase of 50.6% in 2008 over 2007 and
decrease of 9.1% in 2009 over 2008 (from 358 cases in 2007 to 539 in
2008 and 490 cases in 2009). Trichy railway police reported an increase
of 6.5% in 2008 over 2007 and 73.5% in 2009 over 2008 (from 92 cases
in 2007 to 98 cases in 2008 and 170 cases in 2009). The crime head-
wise and district-wise incidence of various IPC crimes as reported to
Government railway police (GRP) during the years Crime head-wise
analysis reveals that cases of dacoity (no cases) and preparation &
assembly for dacoity (1, 0 and 0 cases) have shown decreasing trend
during 2007 to 2009.20
An attempt has been made to analyse crimes reported under
the Indian Railways Act, 1989 during 2007 to 2009. The incidents of
crimes under the Indian Railways Act reported a declining trend during
2007 to 2009 with 13, 9 and 7 cases reported during these years
respectively thereby reflecting a decline of 30.8% and 22.2% during 2008
and 2009 respectively over respective previous year. The district of Trichy
Railway Police have reported no variation in incidence (2 cases) during
the years 2008 and 2009.21
It is worth mentioning that the responsibilities for arrest and
prosecution of minor offences under the railways act (which affect the
normal passengers and the train operations) have been vested with the
Railway Protection Force by amending the Railway Protection Force Act,
1957 and the Railways Act, 1989 which came into force from 1st July
2004.
Nearly 89.7% (i.e., 5,37,397 out of 5,98,860) of total Special
and Local Laws crimes (including cases under Indian railways act) were
investigated (including pending cases reported in the State) by police, of
which 53.9% were charge sheeted (2,89,641 out of 5,37,397). 69.2% (9

20 Table 19.2 to 19.4, Crime Review, State Crime Records Bureau, Tamil Nadu, 2009.
21 Table 19.5, Crime Review, State Crime Records Bureau, Tamil Nadu, 2009.

245
out of 12) cases under Indian railways Act were investigated by police, of
which only 22.2% (2 out of 9) were charge-sheeted. The charge-sheeting
rate for crimes under Indian railways act stood at 25.0% as against
58.5% for all SLL crimes reported in the State.22
As many as 2,77,288 Special and Local Laws cases out of
3,64,403 cases (including cases under Indian railways act) were tried in
various courts in the state during the year 2009 resulting in 76.1%
disposal by courts. Conviction percentage for Special and Local Laws
crimes stood at 89.2% (2,47,244 cases were convicted out of 2,77,288
cases in which trial was completed at the state level). Comparatively,
31.3% (5 out of 16) cases under Indian railways act were tried in various
courts and 80% (4 out of 5) resulted in conviction.23
The details of property stolen/taken away by place of
occurrence in railways are not available separately. But this problem is
quite alarming according to the Railway Police personnel.24
No cases of dacoity in railways were reported accounting for
0% of total 97 cases of dacoity reported in the state during 2009 and no
property in running trains and in others were taken away out of total
Rs.471.9 lakh of property stolen/taken away in all dacoities reported in
the State during 2009.25
Thirty eight cases of robbery in railways were reported (24 in
running trains and 14 in others) accounting for 3.3% of total 1,144 cases
of robbery reported in the state during 2009 in which property of Rs.11.4
lakh (Rs.9.6 lakh in running trains and Rs.1.9 lakh in others) were taken
away out of total Rs.701.0 lakh of property stolen/taken away in all
robbery cases in the state during 2009. The percentage share of property

22 Table 4.5 and 4.7, Crime Review, State Crime Records Bureau, Tamil Nadu, 2009.
23 Table 4.13 and 4.15, Crime Review, State Crime Records Bureau, Tamil Nadu, 2009.
24 Chapter 9, Crime Review, State Crime Records Bureau, Tamil Nadu, 2009.
25 Table 8.8, Crime Review, State Crime Records Bureau, Tamil Nadu, 2009.

246
taken away in robberies in railways to total robberies reported in the
state during 2009 comes to 1.6%.26
Three cases of burglary in railways were reported (no case in
running trains and all the 3 in others) accounting for 0.07% of total
4,221 cases of burglary reported in the State during 2009 in which
property of Rs.0.1 lakh (in others) were stolen/taken away out of total
Rs.1879.1 lakh of property stolen / taken away in burglary cases
reported in the state during 2009. The percentage share of property
taken away in burglaries in railways to total burglaries reported in the
state during 2009 comes to 0.01%.27
Two hundred and seventy eight cases of theft in railways
were reported (180 in running trains and 98 in others) accounting for
1.8% of total 15,712 cases of theft reported in the state during 2009.
Property worth Rs.84.0 lakh (Rs.70.1 lakh in running trains and Rs.13.9
lakh in others) were stolen/taken away out of total Rs.4,542.5 lakh of
property stolen/taken away in all thefts reported in the state during
2009. Percentage share of stolen property in railway thefts as compared
to the property stolen in all thefts in Tamil Nadu works out to 1.8%.28 It
is observed that thefts (278) account for 42.1% of total Indian Penal Code
crimes in railways (660). It may be seen that percentage share of number
of thefts in railways (42.1%) is higher as compared to robbery (5.8%),
hurt (5.6%), riots (2.3) and burglaries (0.5%). Similarly the percentage
share of stolen property in railways theft to total thefts in the state is
high (1.8%) as compared to burglary (0.01%) and robbery (1.6%).
Whereas the maintenance of law and order in railways and
railway premises is the responsibility of concerned state police, the
security of passengers and their belongings in the running trains and
railway premises is the joint responsibility of the railway protection force

26 Table 8.9, Crime Review, State Crime Records Bureau, Tamil Nadu, 2009.
27 Table 8.10, Crime Review, State Crime Records Bureau, Tamil Nadu, 2009.
28 Table 8.11, Crime Review, State Crime Records Bureau, Tamil Nadu, 2009.

247
and the concerned state police. The responsibility of security of railway
passengers, passenger area and property has been vested with the
railway protection force by Railway Protection Force Amendment Act,
2003. The cases of crime in railways are reported to, registered and
investigated by the Government Railway Police (GRP). The investigation
and prosecution of crime under the Indian Penal Code as well as
sabotage related cases under the Railways Act (Sections 150 to 152) are
the responsibility of the State Police. The enforcement of Railways
Property (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1966 and the railways act, 1989
excluding Sections 150 to 152 has been entrusted to railway protection
force whereas the Indian Penal Code, all other Special and Local Laws
and maintenance of law and order remains with Government Railway
Police and State Governments concerned. The responsibility for arrest
and prosecution of minor offences under the Railways Act (which affect
the normal passengers and the train operations) have been vested with
the Railway Protection Force by amending the Railway Protection Force
Act, 1957 and the Railways Act, 1989, with a view to supplement the
efforts of the Government Railway Police and State Governments in
maintaining Law & Order and help them concentrate better on serious
crimes.
There are six Railway Police Stations in Chennai city. They
are: Egmore Railway Police Station, Tambaram Railway Police Station,
Korukkupet Railway Police Station, Rayapuram Railway Police
Station,Tondiarpet Railway Police Station, Central Railway Police Station.
The discussions held with the Railway Police officials reveal that the
Police personnel for the Railway Police at present are deputed from the
State Civil Police. This practice does not enable the Railway Police to
carry out the different problems that occur the Railway Police premises
satisfactorily. Therefore, there should be separate recruitment for
Railway Police and they should be trained on the basis of the problems
that confront in the Railway Stations and during railway journeys. Due
248
to fire in S11 Coach in Tamil Nadu Express nearly 40 persons died.
Though the Railway accident took place just half a kilometer from Nellur
Railway Station, rescue operation could not reach the spot in time.
Therefore, fully trained Railway Police personnel should be allowed to
operate through Mobile Railway Police Stations so that they could reach
the accident spot immediately and could help in rescue operations. There
are 524 Railway Stations in Tamil Nadu but only in few Railway Stations,
Railway Police Stations have been set up. In the same way there are
number of Railway Stations in Chennai city but only in six Railway
Stations, Railway Police Stations have been created. The Chennai city
Police should take steps to see that at least few police personnel are
made available in all Railway Stations to set right the problems that
could arise in all the Railway Station premises.

Administrative Wing
The office administration of the Chennai city Police is carried
out with the help of Ministerial Staffs appointed by the Government of
Tamil Nadu. The Ministerial Staffs include the Office Superintendents,
Assistants, Junior Assistants, Typists, Record Clerks, Office Assistants,
Sweepers and Gardeners. The duties of the Ministerial Staffs are
furnished in the following pages. Superintendents verify the tapals which
are received in the Police Headquarters and ensure proper registration in
the Personal Register by the Junior Assistant Concerned. They extract
work from the Junior Assistant of their section on priority basis
according to the importance of the tapas and put up them to the
Personal Assistants to Superintendent for approval. They also watch the
important tapals received from the higher authorities and ensure proper
reply in time. They write running notes on pending currents in each
seats of the section concerned every month by giving use instructions on
the currents. Also, they supervise the work of the Junior

249
Assistants/Assistants and extract proper work from them.29 The
Administrative Wing assists the Commissioner of Police with regard to
service and career matters of police personnel. The discussions held with
the administrative staff of Chennai city Police reveals that there are
number of vacancies in the Administrative Wing and as a result they are
not able to discharge their functions properly. Therefore, the Government
should take steps to fill up all the vacancies so that they can carry out
their functions more efficient.

Headquarters Wing
The Head Quarters Wing headed by Deputy Commissioner of
Police assists the Commissioner of Police in matters of provisioning and
budget. The Deputy Commissioner, Head Quarters has the power to
transfer and Postings of Ministerial Staff, further continuance of Posts
and Proposals for permanent retention of temporary posts, sanction of
Temporary Advance, Part final withdrawal and final withdrawal from
General Provident Fund for Office Assistants, Junior Assistants, Typists,
Steno-Typists and Assistants and up to the rank of Sub Inspectors, pay
fixation, annual increment to Armed Reserve, Special. Unit and Police
Hospital staff, Pay anomalies, medical Reimbursement, Health Fund,
reconciliation of monthly expenditure statement and condemnation of
articles30.

Public Relation Wing

The maintenance of good Chennai city Police public relations
is an art, the importance of which has been recognized throughout the
world, and in various countries many measures have been taken to
improve public relations and to project a proper image of the Chennai
city Police amongst the public. It is obvious that if the image of the

29DistrictCrime Records Bureau, Tamil Nadu, 2009.

30
Chennai City RTI Manual

250
Chennai city Police is not properly placed before the people the latter will
continue to mistrust and hate the Police. Generally Chennai city Police
public relationship is at low level. Therefore, public relations work has to
be immediately started and taken up not as a defensive measure but as a
more active and positive operation. The Superintendent of Chennai city
Police and his assistants in District hold periodical press conference in
which they review the crime situation and reveal their plans for the
importance of Police work and the development of the Police work;
frequently appears on television and informs the public about crime and
other aspects of Police work; employ writers to contribute articles to new
papers and magazines giving a good image of the Police and pointing out
the difficulties of Police work and how the public can co-operate in the
detection and prevention of crime and for their own security; address
clubs and other gathering of the community on various aspects of crime
and criminals and Police work; visits are made to schools and colleges
regularly and talks are given to the students about Police work, traffic
rules and regulations, road safety and other subjects of general interest;
trained Policemen social workers visit clubs and other institutions and
guide their activities; trained Policemen visit the house of suffered people
to help the families; visits are arranged by citizens to Police headquarters
to see the working of Police Departments; prompt response to a call for
assistance from the public recognized as the best means of improving
public relations; and exhibitions, mobile or static are regularly held to
publicize different aspect of Police work. The Commissioner is overall in
charge of Public Relations Wing in Chennai city. He is assessed by
Additional Commissioner of Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police
(Public Relations) and other Police staff.

Central Crime Branch

Central Crime Branch functions under the control of
Assistant Commissioner of Police and over all control of Commissioner of
251
Police. He should enquire into the petitions and current papers sent by
higher ups and sent report promptly. He should visit the scene of Crime
as soon as a case is reported in Crime Branch and collect the details, if
the Prima-facie is made out on the offence, a case should be register.
This unit shall register and investigate only White Collar offense cases
like Cheating, Forgery Land dispute, Job rocketing and counterfeit cases.
The other subordinates should assist the Assistant Commissioner of
Police in all branches of work. Further the Sub Inspector and his team
should collect records on cases in particular offices, collect witnesses for
the offence in the area also.
Special Investigation Team (SIT) was established for
exclusive investigation and prosecution of cases against religious
fundamentalists. The unit is headed by an Inspector General of Police.
The Special Investigation Team has solved all the pending cases
including Coimbatore Serial Bomb Blast case, Imam Ali escape case and
Muslim Defence Force case. This unit has controlled/defused
fundamentalist militancy in the State with fairness and without any
human rights violations.
Narcotic Intelligence Bureau (NIB) was created in 1973. This
unit collects intelligence about drug peddling and enforces the Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in the State. The NIB
Units under the charge of Assistant Commissioner of Police are declared
as police stations.
Video Piracy Cell (VPC) is headed by an Assistant
Commissioner of Police. This unit investigates and prosecutes all
violations under the Copy Right Act and Tamil Nadu Exhibition of Films
on TV Screen through VCRs & Cable TV Network Regulation Act 198431.
Chennai city Police has Dog Squads in Police Districts. These squads are
rendering excellent service and assisting in detection and investigation of

31Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Tamil Nadu Police, Policy Note 2009 –
2010, pp.21-22.

252
offences.32 The Commissioner of Police is overall in charge of the Crime
Branch in Chennai city. He is assisted by Deputy Commissioner of
Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Inspectors, Sub Inspectors,
Head Constables and Constables.

Crime Records Bureau

All over the world the experience is that with crimes getting
more and more complicated, the increasing activity of Inter-State and
international crime gangs, it is necessary to improve the staff work of the
Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters at the Union, State and
District levels for more adequate assistance in field of investigation. It is
suggested there must be constant and day and night consultation
between the investigating officer in the field and the Crimes Record
Bureau at the Union, State and District Headquarters. Not only should
the Crimes Record Bureau keep a record of crime that has already taken
place and has been investigated, but also it should also actively assist in
the progress of the investigation. The competent police personnel have
been appointed in the Crimes Record Bureau.
The Crime Record Bureau functions under the control of
Assistant Commissioner of Police and under over all supervision of
Commissioner of Police. It assists in the progress of the investigation.
The competent police personnel have been appointed in the Crimes
Record Bureau. The Commissioner of Police is over all in charge of Crime
Record Bureau in Chennai city. He is assisted by Additional Deputy
Commissioner of Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Inspectors,
Sub Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables.

Crime Branch (Criminal Investigation Department)

32 Ibid., p.36.

253
 The function of the Crime Branch of the Criminal
Investigation Department is to assist the Police in the prevention and
detection of crime. This assistance is given without in any way diluting
the responsibility of the Police in this respect. In fact, the Police continue
to remain solely responsible for the prevention as well as the detection of
crime. The Criminal Investigation Department gives it such specialist
assistance as may be required in some of the more complicated and
difficult cases. In order to do this, the Crime Branch of the Criminal
Investigation Department should itself be properly organized, and should
raise itself to the standard of an expert body before it can either be useful
or can make its advice acceptable to the Police. Experts are not born but
are the product of intensive study, hard labor and long experience and,
therefore, the Criminal Investigation Department should draft officers
with special aptitude and intimate knowledge of investigation and those
who have successfully held charge of police stations or have investigated
a large variety of cases in the police stations. It is necessary to train them
further and assign them to specialist units after judging their particular
aptitude and ability. But this specialization in investigation is not
enough. To back up this staff, the Criminal Investigation Department
must have full data from records in which all crimes are entered, the
distinctive modus operandi of each is described, suspects are named and
the reasons of suspicions analyzed. There should also be a specialist
study in the particular forms of crime, which these officers individually
or in groups are expected to investigate. Further, any investigation will
require collection of a good deal of criminal intelligence and this
intelligence also should be available to the specialist investigating
officers. There are certain specialist services like the Finger-print Bureau,
the Forensic Science Laboratory, etc. also which must supplement not
only the work of these specialists, but also of the normal investigation
work of the police stations. Hence the functions of the Crime Branch
would be: to collect, collate and disseminate information regarding
254
professional crimes and criminals; to collect intelligence about criminal
gangs or important criminals and send out advance warnings to the
police stations about their likely activities, and also to collect intelligence
after the commission of a particular type of offence, about the possible
complicity of some criminals who are known to be addicted to such types
of offences; to study and analyze the general incidence, distribution
pattern and trend of crime so that preventive measures can be suggested
and also special staffs can be deputed for the investigation of particular
types of crimes which may be prevalent at any time; to investigate or
assist in the investigation of selected offences; and to cater to the
services of certain technical branches, to the police stations and to the
specialist investigators.
In the Criminal Investigation Department, Investigating
Squads have been created to investigate particular form of crime. That is
how it specializes in the form of crime and is able to give real assistance
to the field staffs. These investigating squads are classified into different
groups. They are: Crimes Record Bureau or Modus Operandi Bureau,
Homicide , Kidnapping and Abduction, Dacoity, Robbery, Burglary and
Ordinary Thefts, Thefts of Automobiles, Cheating , Forgery and
Counterfeiting, Criminal Breach of Trust and Criminal Misappropriation,
including Chit Funds, Smuggling and Prohibition, Social Defence and
Juvenile Aid. The Commissioner of Police is overall in charge of Crime
Branch (CID) in Chennai city. He is assisted by Deputy Commissioner of
Police, Assistant Commissioners of Police, Inspectors, Sub Inspectors,
Head Constables and Constables. This Branch assists in the prevention
and detection of crime.

Intelligence Wing
The functions of the Intelligence Wing of Criminal
Investigation Department are to collect disseminate and record
intelligence on political matters and matters of interest from the security
255
permit of view. The Intelligence Branch also makes secret enquiries to
assist the investigation of important cases, which have political
significance. The various duties of the Intelligence Branch of Criminal
Investigation Department are carried out in different forms. They are field
intelligence group‟s duty, interceptions, protection intelligence, press,
reports and miscellaneous enquiry work.
It is true that the Police cannot function efficiently without a
properly communication system. It is not necessary to give detailed
equipments in support of this statement because all over the world this
has been found to be the only solution for tracking day to day and hour
to hour law and order problems that occur in big cities and unless
communication are speedy and extensive the Police will always be
trailing behind and forestall any sinister developments.
A good communication system is required not only during
large scale disorders but even for the performance of normal duties of
daily crime control work, patrols, surveillance accidents, smuggling, rash
and dangerous drinking, arrest of suspects, help in five and other
calumniates in fact, in every aspect of Police work dealing with the
protection of the citizens. Communication duties are of different kind.
They are telephone control duty, wireless control duty for mobile
vehicles, wireless control duty for the traffic, security and administrative
vehicles duty, traffic mobile vehicle duty, administrative mobile vehicle
duty, control Room duty, sub control station duty, mobile security duty,
traffic mobile duty and mobile patrols duty.33
The Intelligence Wing deals with collection, collation and
dissemination of information relating to political significance, public
importance, security aspects and matters affecting national interest and
provide information on such matters to State Government. The
Intelligence Wing comprises Special Branch Crime Investigation

33 District Police Communication Branch, Tamil Nadu, 2009.

256
Department, „Q‟ Branch Crime Investigation Department, Special
Division, Security Branch Crime Investigation Department and
Shorthand Bureau.34
The Shorthand Bureau having branches in all the districts
and Commissionerates, covers public meetings and speeches. The
Bureau also undertakes translation of documents relating to sensational
cases handled by Crime Branch Crime Investigation Department, ‟Q‟
Branch Crime Investigation Department and Special Division and
matters relating to Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, and Public
Department.35 The Commissioner of Police is over all in charge of
Intelligence Wing in Chennai city. He is assisted by Deputy
Commissioner of Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Inspectors,
Sub Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables. This Wing is
responsible to collect, disseminate and record intelligence on political
matters and matters of interest from the security permit of view.

Armed Police Wing

In determining the organization and strength as also the
training and equipment of any armed police unit one must pause and
consider what particular role that unit has to play in a particular area.
There are armed police forces of various types in India and these may
roughly be classified under the following three heads:
1. The Central Reserve Police Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police
and the Border Security Force.
2. The Government of India Reserve and the State Special Armed
Police.
3. The District Armed Police.

34Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Tamil Nadu Police, Policy Note 2009 –
2010, p.26.
35Ibid., pp.28-29.

257
 The Central Reserve Police Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border
Police and the Border Security Force units, which are all directly under
the Central Government, are in a completely different category to other
armed police units. The role of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the
Border Security Force is to provide protection to the frontiers of India,
the one doing this on the northern frontier and the other on the western
and eastern frontiers. Hence these units have been so organized, trained
and armed that they may be able to cope with even the armed forces of
the enemy in the event of a sudden attack. They work in very close co-
operation with the Army. The original force was the Central Reserve
Police, which, though first raised as an internal force, soon came to be
deployed all over the frontier. Gradually its frontier work has been taken
over by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Border Security Force,
but it is still employed on the frontier at some places where the other two
units have not yet been able to replace it. The Central Reserve Police in
addition, has to undertake very difficult and dangerous operations in
places like Nagaland and Mizoland. It is also inducted wherever there are
any large-scale civil disturbances. Therefore, these three units have to be
intensively trained, equipped with almost all the small arms used by the
army and well officered. They must have their own supply arrangements
and transport facilities. Their personal equipment also is comparable
with that of the army personnel. Obviously this type of organization
training, arms and equipment are not needed for an armed force required
purely for internal law and order work in a State. All these three forces
are recruited under the Central Reserve Police Act. The Government of
India Reserve battalions were raised during the emergency of 1962 to
provide protection at the frontiers and also in troubled areas like
Nagaland, from which Army units had been withdrawn temporarily. They
were well trained units drawn from the existing Special Armed Police
forces of the States and had a much higher proportion of officers to men.
Their scales of arms were also higher. But, as they were subject to rapid
258
transfer from one place to another, the administrative units of these
battalions were kept down to the essential minimum. Each battalion was
to provide 6 striking companies with one Reserve Headquarter Company
whose strength would be less than that of a normal company. With the
growth of the Central Reserve Police, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and
the Border Security Force, the requirement of Government of India
Reserve Battalions on the frontier has now been reduced to the very
minimum; but some forces are still required for deputation to other
States, particularly to areas like Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland,
Manipur, Mizoland, etc. However, the number of the Government of India
Reserve Battalions in the States is being gradually reduced and many of
these units have now been absorbed in the Central Reserve Police or
Border Security Force.
Special Armed Police units (sometimes called Military Police)
existed as reserve armed police in the States of Bengal, Bihar, Assam and
Madras. In Bengal this force was called the Eastern Frontier Rifles; in
Bihar its name was the Bihar Military Police; in Assam, it became the
Assam Rifles and in Madras it was called the Malabar Special Police.
These units have existed for nearly 40 to 50 years. During the Second
World War (1939-45), these States augmented their armed police forces
and other States like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh raised similar
units and named them as Special Armed Police Units. After
Independence, armed police forces in all States have grown and in 1952,
the Government of India appointed a Committee of several Inspectors-
General of Police under the Director, Intelligence Bureau to standardize
the organization and equipment of the Armed Police units. The present
Special Armed Police forces of the various States more or less conform to
the pattern then prescribed. Some of the States have large S.A.P. forces,
e.g., Uttar Pradesh has as many as 39 Battalions. Apart from
deputations outside the State, units from these battalions are utilized for
anti-dacoity operations in the Chambal region, for all internal, communal
259
and other disturbances and in all serious law and order situations. These
SAP battalions have been so armed and trained that they can function
against dacoit groups who are also quite often well-armed and
entrenched in defensive positions. When sent to especially sensitive areas
like Nagaland or Mizoland, they are given a higher scale of arms. Each
State has its Special Act for these SAP units.
The third and last category of armed police is the District
Armed Police. This forms a part of the district force and is recruited
under the Police Act. Though the bulk of the district force is unarmed
performing ordinary civil police duties, a part of this force is armed in
order to provide armed police supports in any local law and order
situation that may develop from the armed section, too, all standing
guards are provided and armed escorts sent out. There used originally to
be only a small-armed police unit in each district in the forties, but
during the war years the armed police was reorganized and its number
was increased. The armed police was also equipped with better arms and
was made more mobile. But this armed unit continued to remain a part
of the district police under the District Superintendent of Police. The
armed police are deployed to carryout different duties. They are fixed
guards at the residences of VIPs, fixed guards at various installations like
the power house, water works, etc., escorts for prisoners, patrols etc.
whenever required in the outlying areas, law and order work, drivers,
tear smoke squad and band duty.
Armed Police Wing is headed by an Additional Director
General of Police assisted by two Inspectors General of Police and one
Deputy Inspector General of Police. Tamil Nadu State Police has 16
Battalions including the Regimental Centre at Avadi and two Police
Transport Workshops. Tamil Nadu State Police VIII Battalion is on ex-
State Duty deployed to guard Tihar Jail in New Delhi. Tamil Nadu State
Police battalions are the State Reserve, and are used whenever a
situation demands a higher response beyond resources of the
260
District/City police. Apart from this, Tamil Nadu Special Police also
provides strength to the Special Task Force, Coastal Security Group,
Prison duties, Special Refugee Camps, etc. TSP Companies were deployed
for general election duties in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and
Rajasthan States during 2008 and they did commendable work.36
The State Police has Mounted Branches in Chennai,
Chennai and Coimbatore with strength of 36 horses. These Mounted
Police are used for crowd control as well as for ceremonial occasions
such as Republic Day, Independence Day, Medal Parades, etc.37
Ability to react swiftly to situations will help in ensuring that
the smaller problems do not escalate to serious law and order situations.
Efficiency of the Police, in the modern contexts is measured in terms of
speed at which forces reach the problem spots and contain the minor
incidents. Effective mobility is highly essential for elevating the
preparedness and operational efficiency of the Police force. The
Government has taken keen interest in sanctioning vehicles thereby
improving the quality and quantity of the fleet strength of the Police
force.38 The Commissioner of Police is over all in charge of Armed Police
Wing in Chennai city. He is assisted by Deputy Commissioner of Police,
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Reserve Inspectors, Reserve Sub
Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables. The Armed Police in
Chennai city assists whenever a situation demands a higher response
beyond resources of the City police.

Prohibition Enforcement Wing

The Director General of Police supervises the Prohibition
Enforcement Wing in Tamil Nadu. The Prohibition Enforcement Unit is
headed by Additional Director General of Police and assisted by Deputy

36Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Tamil Nadu Police, Policy Note 2009 –
2010, pp.33-34.
37Ibid.,
38Ibid., p.40.

261
Inspector General of Police, Superintends of Police, Inspectors, Sub
Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables. Prohibition Enforcement
Unit is headed by an Additional Director General of Police and assisted
by four Superintendents of Police. This Unit has 94 units under the
control of Inspectors. Besides eradicating illicit distillation and sale of
arrack, the unit also concentrates on preventing the misuse of Rectified
Spirit for purposes of drinking.39 The Commissioner of Police is over all
in charge of Prohibition Enforcement Wing in Chennai city. He is assisted
by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police,
Inspectors, Sub Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables. This Wing
is responsible for eradicating illicit distillation, sale of arrack and
preventing the misuse of rectified spirit for purposes of drinking.

Technical Services Wing

Communication network of the department is maintained by
the Technical Services wing of Tamil Nadu Police. This wing is headed by
an Inspector General of Police assisted by a Deputy Inspector General of
Police and a Superintendent of Police (Technical). The Technical Services
wing provides uninterrupted VHF communication for the Police stations,
UHF communication for Very Important Person security arrangements
and HF communication in Special Police Battalions. VHF high band
network for Police station level communications is provided for all
districts and cities involving 6,487 static/mobile sets, 12,419 handheld
sets and 230 repeater sets across the State. Microwave communication
facilitating both voice and data communication and Wide Area Network
of the department, is maintained by this Wing. This wing also provides
technical support for the procurement and maintenance of all the
security and office equipment in the State. During 2008, several
measures have been taken to strengthen the communication network of

39Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Tamil Nadu Police, Policy Note 2009 –
2010, p.35.

262
the State Police such as provision of Microwave link for Krishnagiri
District at a cost of Rs.66.16 lakh, Digitalisation of Thoothukudi-
Tirunelveli Microwave links at a cost of Rs.203.28 lakh, Upgradation of
main 8MB digital microwave links into 34MB radios between Chennai
and Kodaikanal at a cost of Rs.186.43 lakh and Digitalization of
remaining 9 Time Division Multiple Access links (covering 6 districts in
Villupuram, Vellore, Dindigul and Ramnad Ranges) in order to achieve
100% digitalization of Microwave network at a cost of Rs.256.00 lakh.
During 2008, this wing has imparted Basic Computer Training to 300
police personnel and Modern & Advanced Technology Training to 182
technical officers. Workshop on Cyber Security was also organized for
157 police officers in association with NASSCOM.40 The Commissioner of
Police is over all in charge of Technical Services Unit in Chennai city. He
is assisted by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Assistant Commissioner of
Police, and Technical Staff. The Technical Services wing is responsible for
importing Basic Computer Training and Modern & Advanced Technology
Training and organizing workshop on Cyber Security.

Chennai City Traffic Police Wing

The traffic problems are becoming much more complex, and
more difficult. The present situation is far from satisfactory and it further
deterioration and frustrating failures to be avoided, it is necessary to
take careful stock of the present position examine the short comings and
analyze the causes so that appropriate remedies can be planned well in
advance and applied in the raps movement.
Regulation of traffic is the main function carried out in big
cities. Now, this function is also carried out in other areas when accident
take place in other areas by the nearer Police Stations. Whenever
accident take place in other areas the Police from the nearest Police

40Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Tamil Nadu Police, Policy Note 2009 –
2010, pp.29-30.

263
Station have to go to the place of accident, and rescue the injured
person. They want to record First Information Report and remove the
vehicles so that traffic could be regulated properly. If the accident
occurred in other Police Station jurisdiction after registering First
Information Report then transferred to concerned Police Station for
further investigation. In big cities like the Traffic Police carryout different
duties related to traffic regulations. They are fixed point traffic
regulation, traffic regulation at important places, mobile traffic
enforcement, investigation squad, research planning, enforcement
statistics, accident statistics and education of public.
The State Traffic Planning Cell is headed by an Additional
Director General of Police. The State Traffic Planning Cell collects,
compiles and analyses statistics about accidents, coordinates with
various Government Departments and non-governmental agencies and
plans road safety measures. The cell also monitors the functioning of 160
Highway Patrol teams that patrol 80 stretches of the national highway.
Traffic safety and road accident prevention are the priority areas for the
Government. Global Positioning System based equipments were installed
on 122 highway patrol vehicles. This system along with a computer
based monitoring system helps monitoring vehicular traffic on the roads.
Monitoring and Response System (MARS) operates from the State Traffic
Control and helps to monitor accidents and other incidents on the
highways. To further strengthen this system, the implementation of Road
Accident Data Management System (RADMS) is sanctioned at a cost of
about Rs.2.00 crore.41 The Commissioner of Police is over all in charge of
Traffic Police wing. He is assisted by Additional Commissioner of Police,
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Assistant Commissioners of Police,
Reserve Inspectors, Reserve Sub Inspectors, Head Constables and
Constables.

41Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Tamil Nadu Police, Policy Note 2009 –
2010, pp.39-40.

264
Welfare Unit
Welfare works have to be done for the Policemen and their
families to boost the morale of the Police personnel at Constable and
Head Constable levels, within the existing financial restrictions, by the
Head of the District Police with the help of a small staff drawn from the
Police. Superintendent of Police carries out the welfare functions with the
help of Deputy Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) and a small staff
drawn from the Police.42
Welfare of Police Personnel is given high priority by this
Government and various welfare measures are being implemented for the
benefit of the Police Personnel and their families. The major welfare
measures are Tamil Nadu Police Benevolent Fund, Tamil Nadu Police
Centenary Scholarship Fund, Tamil Nadu Government Special
Scholarship Fund, Award of Educational Prizes to the Children of Police
Personnel who get First Three Ranks in the SSLC And Higher Secondary
Examinations, Police Hospitals, Tamil Nadu Police Health Fund, Family
Benefit Fund, Ex-Gratia Payments to Police Personnel Killed or Injured
under Heroic Circumstances, Tamil Nadu Police Insurance Scheme Tamil
Nadu Chief Minister‟s Public Relief Fund, Food Subsidy Scheme and
Grievance Redressal.

The Tamil Nadu Police Benevolent Fund has been

implemented since 1957 for affording monetary and other relief to non-
gazetted staff and their dependants by receiving contributions from the
staff and donations from officers. The financial resources of the fund are
mobilized by way of subscription from members, donations, and an
annual grant from the State Government. During the year 2004, the
Government has sanctioned a sum of Rs.20 lakhs towards the grant. A

42 District Police Welfare Department, Tamil Nadu, 2009.

265
sum of Rs.1,29,67,920/- has been spent towards grants to 2,531
beneficiaries during the year 2004.43

The Tamil Nadu Police Centenary Scholarship Fund was

created in the year 1959 for awarding scholarships to deserving children
of non-gazetted Police Personnel who wish to continue their studies in
colleges (professional or academic) or undergo technical courses. This
Fund was created out of lump sum contributions and annual donations
received from time to time. A sum of Rs.1,32,57,000/- was distributed as
Tamil Nadu Police Centenary Scholarship to 3609 children of Police
Personnel during the year 2004. A Special Scholarship Fund was created
in the year 1994 for the benefit of the children of Police Personnel. The
Police Personnel have contributed Rs.4 lakhs for this Scheme. The
Government contribution to this Corpus Fund is Rs.16 lakhs. Under this
Scheme, a sum of Rs.2 lakhs is distributed every year for granting
Special Scholarships to the children of non-gazetted Police Personnel at
the rate of Rs.40,000/- to the first ranked student, and at the rate of
Rs.20,000/- each to the second to ninth ranked students who have been
admitted to professional courses through the Tamil Nadu Professional
Courses Entrance Examinations. Award of educational prizes to the
children of police personnel who get first three ranks in the SSLC and
higher secondary examinations scheme was introduced during 1993 and
the Government has been allotting funds annually. Prizes of Rs.7,000/-,
Rs. 5,000/- and Rs.3,000/- are awarded to the first, second and third
rank holders respectively at district level in the Higher Secondary
Examinations. Similarly, prizes of Rs.6,000/-, Rs.4,000/- and
Rs.2,000/- are awarded in respect of the first three District Rank Holders
in the 10th Standard Government Examinations. In the year 2004, a total
prize amount of Rs.10.22 lakhs was disbursed to 229 Children of Police

43Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Tamil Nadu Police, Policy Note 2009 –
2010.

266
Personnel. There are 11 Police Hospitals in the State to render medical
assistance to the Police Personnel and their family members.

The Tamil Nadu Police Health Fund Scheme was introduced

in the year 1995 for providing financial assistance to the employees of
the Tamil Nadu Police Department and their families who are suffering
from major ailments or for undergoing specialized surgeries. Each
employee contributes Rs.15/- per month as subscription. The
Government grant for this Scheme is Rupees one crore per year. During
the year 2004, 183 persons benefited from this Scheme and financial
assistance of Rs.1,18,99,540/- was disbursed to them.

Family Benefit Fund Scheme, a monthly contribution of

Rs.20 is recovered from each Police Personnel and Ministerial Staff and
an ex-gratia grant of Rs.1 lakh is paid to the legal heir of the deceased
employee.

In 2001, the Government ordered enhancement of ex-gratia

to Police Personnel killed or injured while on duty under heroic
circumstances as follows:

Death - Rs.5,00,000/-
Permanent Incapacitation - Rs.1,00,000/-
Grievous Injury - Rs.20,000/-
Simple Injury - Rs.10,000/-
With regard to Police Personnel of Core Cell CID, Commando
Force, Commando School, who get killed under heroic circumstances,
the ex-gratia is paid at Rs.10 lakhs for the legal heirs of Deputy
Superintendents of Police and above ranks, Rs.6 lakhs for legal heirs of
ranks from Constables to Inspectors; Rs.4 lakhs for permanent
impairment of limbs, vision, senses; and Rs.2 lakhs for disfigurement.
Pay last drawn would be paid as family pension till the presumptive date
of superannuation of the deceased.

267
 In respect of Special Task Force personnel, an ex-gratia
amount of Rs.10 lakhs is paid to those personnel who get killed or are
permanently incapacitated under heroic circumstances, irrespective of
their Rank.
With a view to boosting the morale of the Force and instilling
a sense of confidence in the minds of Police Personnel belonging to the
Special Security Group and the Special Task Force, a Group Insurance
Scheme has been introduced in 1993. The Scheme was subsequently
merged with the Group Insurance Scheme implemented for other Police
Personnel. Under this scheme, financial assistance is granted for Police
Officers and Personnel, who die (including accidental death) or who are
permanently incapacitated or partially disabled in pursuit of their duties.
The scales are explained in table 5.4.

Table 5.4
Tamil Nadu Police Insurance Scheme
Death or Permanent Partial
Disablement Disablement
All personnel in STF,
Commando School, 50% of the
Rs.10 lakhs
Commando Force, SAF lump sum
and Core Cell.
PC to ADSP Rs. 1 lakh
According to
SP to IGP Rs. 5 lakhs
percentage of
ADGP Rs. 7.5 lakhs
disablement
DGP Rs. 10 lakhs

However, since the existing rules restricted the benefit to the

Police Personnel to either the Ex-gratia Scheme or the Group Insurance
Scheme, this restrictive procedure is dispensed with, enabling the Police
Personnel who get killed/permanently incapacitated to get the ex-gratia
payment sanctioned, in addition to the benefits under the Group
Insurance Scheme. A sum of Rupees One lakh is paid from the Chief
Minister‟s Public Relief Fund to families of deceased Police Personnel.
During the year 2004, a sum of Rs.1.18 crores was sanctioned and
disbursed to 118 families of deceased Police Personnel. The Government

268
has been implementing the Food Subsidy Scheme for the benefit of Police
Personnel and their families. A sum of Rs.131.92 lakhs has been spent
for the benefit of 30,050 Police Personnel during 2004. Pursuant to the
mammoth exercise of giving audience and hearing in person to as many
as 8395 Police Personnel, undertaken in 2002, now the grievance
redressal mechanism has become stabilized benefiting the Police
Personnel of all Ranks. Government is giving top priority to the timely
redressal of the grievances of the Rank and File of the Police
Department.44 The Commissioner of Police is over all in charge of Welfare
Wing in Chennai city. He is assisted by Additional Commissioner of
Police, Inspectors, Sub Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables. It is
responsible for implementation various welfare programs of Chennai city
Police.

Home Guards Wing

Home Guards wing is headed by a Commissioner of Police in
Chennai city as the Ex-officio Commandant General of Home Guards.
Home Guards is basically a voluntary service organization and play a
vital role in assisting the district/city police administration in the
maintenance of law and order, crime prevention, traffic regulation, night
beats, VIP bandobusts, big fairs and festivals and rendered assistance to
the district/City administration during floods. During 2008, 300 Home
Guard personnel were given training in Disaster Management. The total
strength of the Home Guards in Tamil Nadu at present is 11,622
including 2,805 Women Home Guards. All the districts and the cities are
having Home Guard-units including women Home Guards wing.45 The
Commissioner of Police is over all in charge of Home Guards Wing. He is
assisted by Additional Commissioner of Police, Inspectors, Sub
Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables. The Home Guards Wing is

44Ibid.,
45Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Tamil Nadu Police, Policy Note 2009 –
2010, pp.37-38.

269
basically a voluntary service organization and play a vital role in
assisting the district/city police administration in the maintenance of law
and order, crime prevention, traffic regulation, night beats, VIP
bandobusts, big fairs and festivals and rendered assistance to the
district/City administration during floods.

Training and Modernization Wing

Training Department in Tamil Nadu comprises of Police
Academy, Police Training College, Police Recruit Schools and In-service
Training Centers. This wing is headed by Director General of Police,
assisted by two Additional Directors General of Police, two Inspectors
General of Police, a Deputy Inspector General of Police and three
Superintendents of Police. A state-of-the-art Police Academy with a total
built up area of 4.46 lakh Sq.ft. on 132 Acres of land at Oonamancheri,
Vandalur started functioning from March 2008. This is one of the biggest
Police training institutions in India with ISO 9001-2000 certification.
During 2008, Government has sanctioned Language Lab at a cost of
Rs.10.00 lakh and Office Automation at a cost of Rs.39.72 lakh for the
Academy. The induction course for Sub-Inspectors and Deputy
Superintendents/Assistance Commissioner of Police is conducted in the
Academy. The first batch of 715 Cadet Sub-Inspectors passed out from
the Academy on 11.01.2009. Apart from this, Capsule Course for IPS
probationers was also conducted in December 2008.46
Established in 1896 at Vellore, the Police Training College,
was shifted to Chennai in 1976. Capsule courses for senior police officers
are conducted in the Police Training College. The basic training courses
for Police Constables are conducted in the Police Recruit School while in-
service courses for Constables to Inspectors of the Taluk Police are
organized in the In-service Training Centers. A new Police Recruit School

46Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Tamil Nadu Police, Policy Note 2009 –
2010, p.32.

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at Trichy is sanctioned in the year 2008. During 2008, several important
training courses such as Institutional Training to IPS probationers, basic
training to directly recruited DSPs and 3,752 recruit police constables,
pre-promotional course to 97 HCs, 1,206 Short Term Courses, 182
Comprehensive Refresher Courses, 37 Capsule Courses were imparted in
these training institutions. In addition, 10 workshops for senior Police
officers on Investigation of Special crimes such as Land Grabbing, Cyber
crimes, Credit card frauds and on important issues such as Right to
Information Act, lessons from Mumbai attack, etc., were conducted. A
seminar on Intellectual Property Rights was also conducted in June
2008. Presently, 1,333 recruit constables and 315 Jail Warders are still
undergoing training.47 The Commissioner of Police is over all in charge
of Training and Modernization Wing in Chennai city. He is assisted by
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Inspectors, Sub Inspectors, Head
Constables and Constables. The Assistant Commissioner is responsible
to train the Police officers below the rank of Inspectors and to implement
the programs relating to modernization.

Security Wing
The Security Branch is looking after the security matters in
respect of VVIPs/VIPs including foreign Heads of States and other
protected persons visiting Tamil Nadu besides protecting the VIPs/PPs
based in Tamil Nadu. Apart from this, the Security Branch Crime
Investigation Department is also handling matters relating to activities of
foreigners, preparation of schemes to protect vital installations,
verification of passports & citizenship applications and matters relating
to immigration. A separate unit called „Core Cell‟ attached to the Security
Branch Crime Investigation Department was created during 1997,
exclusively to look after the proximate security arrangements of the

47Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, Tamil Nadu Police, Policy Note 2009 –
2010, pp.32-33.

271
Hon‟ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. This wing continued to provide
foolproof security cover for the functions, meetings and tours of the
Hon‟ble Chief Minister. Core Cell comprises of Commando Teams, Bomb
Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS), etc. During 2008, there were
2,274 visits by VVIPs/ VIPs/ PPs. The Security Branch is also providing
security to 156 Tamil Nadu-based Protected Persons/VIPs.48
It will be readily conceded that V.I.P. security is an
important part of police work in all countries. Men and women holding
positions of powers and prestige frequently attract the malice of deranged
or misguided individuals, or become targets of political rivalry and envy.
Instances are not wanting when the life of a king, a head of state or a
high dignitary has met a violent end or been encompassed in the gravest
danger. The murder of Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi
and President Kennedy in recent years emphasized the need for the most
diligent security measures to protect important individuals, places where
heads of government political leaders and foreign potentates assemble
also need to be watched and protected. To afford this protection is a
public duty, which falls to be discharged by the police with the utmost
care and circumspection. The matter is important enough to merit
discussion on security police. The security wing of the Police Department
concerned with two important functions. They are Very Important Person
security and Security of important installations. The Commissioner of
Police is over all in charge of Security Wing in Chennai city. He is
assisted by Assistant Commissioners of Police, Inspectors, Sub
Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables. This Wing provides
security to the Very Important Persons and security to the important
installations.

To Sum Up

48 Ibid., p.28.

272
 In this chapter an attempt has been made to evaluate the
working of the Commissioner of Police system in Chennai city under the
headings Powers of Commissioner of Police, Licensing Powers of the
Commissioner, Cinema License, Approval of Building Plan, Enforcement
of Discipline, Public Resort Licensing Power, Video Library Licensing
Power, Poison License, DL-2 Licensing Power, Gymnasium Licensing
Power, Crackers Licensing Power (Temporary), Browsing Centre
Licensing Power, Investigation Powers, Powers of the Commissioner of
Police under various Acts, Powers and Duties Additional Commissioners
of Police, Powers and Duties of Deputy Commissioner of Police, Powers
and Duties of Assistant Commissioner of Police, Powers and Duties of
Inspector of Police (Law and Order), Powers and Duties of Inspector of
Police (Crime), Powers and Duties of Station House Officers, Powers and
Duties of Head Constables, Critical Evaluation of the Powers vested in
the Commissioner of Police and other Police Officers, Working of the
Commissioner of Police System, Law and Order Wing, Importance and
Working of Police Stations, Patrol/Beat Duty, Outposts, Supervision of
Beat and Patrol Work, List of Records to be maintained in each Police
Station and out Posts, Jurisdiction of the Police Stations, Building of the
Police Stations, Problems Relating to Non-Cognizable Offences, Authority
and Responsibility, Investigation of Cases, Registration of Offences, Final
Report and Charge Sheet, Specialists Assistance, Medico-Legal
Examination, Legal Advisor, Service of Process, Follow-up Action,
Prosecution of Cases, Supervision, All Women Police Station in Chennai
City, Railway Policing in Tamil Nadu and Railway Police Station in
Chennai City, Administrative Wing, Headquarters Wing, Public Relation
Wing, Central Crime Branch, Crime Records Bureau, Crime Branch
(Criminal Investigation Department), Intelligence Wing, Armed Police
Wing, Prohibition Enforcement Wing, Technical Services Wing, Chennai
City Traffic Police Wing, Welfare Unit, Home Guards Wing, Training and
Modernization Wing and Security Wing.
273