Police Act 2008 - Kerala Police

Party interface is creating practical problems throughout India, leading
many good persons to condemn political control and praise rigid,
bureaucratic controls, which would be unresponsive to popular will, over
the Police. This tendency has gained popularity primarily because the
existing 1861 model is incapable of harmoniously integrating the conflicting
pressures which are natural in a democracy.
As always, Kerala was the first Indian State to discover, and formulate
a response to, the contradiction implicit in trying to a police a democracy
with a system perfected for ensuring colonial subjugation. How can the
same Police which meticulously subjugated public freedoms now become
the guardians of public freedoms and ensure that citizens peacefully enjoy
every freedom and every right guaranteed to them under the constitution
In 1959, a Police Reorganisation Committee under Sri N.C. Chatterjee was
asked to look into this, but its valuable report did not lead to any positive
action.
In the years that followed, the calls for police reform have become
more strident. The National Police Commission of 1977 gave its landmark
report but the inertia of the system prevented any dynamic action. As
problems continued, several States and the Centre appointed myriad
Commissions and Committees to look into issues related to Police Reform.
And every enlightened person has come to the inescapable conclusion that
reforming the police has become imperative if democracy is to survive, both
as system of governance and as a way of life.
This is the background against which the Government of Kerala
decided in August 2006 to formulate a new Police Act. Shortly afterwards
the Honourable Supreme Court also directed urgent action with regard to a
few salient aspects.
The Kerala of today bears no semblance to the India of 1861. It is not
only the system of governance but also the entire social spectrum that has
undergone unbelievable changes. Kerala then had no motor vehicles, no
phones, no radio, no television, no airports, no railway, no popular
newspapers, no political parties, no civic freedoms, - and only rudimentary
systems of education, health, tourism or industry! And we still have the
same Police Act!
A new Police Act must also take note of these vast changes that have
taken place in Kerala society since the 1861 Act was formulated. This is
because policing is influenced not only by the system of governance but also
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