by Police - Bureau of Police Research and Development
by Police - Bureau of Police Research and Development
by Police - Bureau of Police Research and Development
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The Indian <strong>Police</strong> JournalConference, 1960, “If the police respect the public as a whole, thepublic will respect them more.” Of course, these were pious wishesdevoid <strong>of</strong> any plan for action. Perhaps, the unprecedented carnage<strong>and</strong> migration brought about <strong>by</strong> the Partition <strong>and</strong> the problem <strong>of</strong>rehabilitation that it threw up kept them too preoccupied to think <strong>of</strong>administrative reforms. Perhaps, they relied too much on the steelframe called bureaucracy to take care <strong>of</strong> all such needs. The factremains that the <strong>Police</strong> Organization remained what it was during theRaj without any change.Public Order <strong>and</strong> <strong>Police</strong> in Concurrent ListThere could be another reason why the Nehru era turned a blind eyeto this grave issue. The Constitution placed <strong>Police</strong> in the State Listabsolving the Centre <strong>of</strong> any responsibility in police reforms. Not tospeak <strong>of</strong> setting up a National <strong>Police</strong> Commission for overhauling thecolonial system, not even the <strong>Police</strong> Act <strong>of</strong> 1861 was replaced with anew one enshrining democratic values. The apathy exhibited <strong>by</strong> ouras does the resolution <strong>of</strong> the Constituent Assembly to place <strong>Police</strong> inthe State List. Law <strong>and</strong> order is no doubt the responsibility <strong>of</strong> the StateGovernment, but what happens when it crosses the boundary <strong>of</strong> theStates? Can the Centre remain alo<strong>of</strong> even when the situation becomes<strong>and</strong> extremism, spread over large chunks <strong>of</strong> our territory, no saneperson would now think <strong>of</strong> relegating the responsibility <strong>of</strong> containingthem to the concerned States alone. If law <strong>and</strong> order is exclusively inthe domain <strong>of</strong> the States, why does the Centre raise <strong>and</strong> maintain hugeParamilitary Forces <strong>and</strong> Intelligence Agencies? It is a well-known factthat in a federal system like ours, the Centre takes the lion’s share <strong>of</strong>the revenue. The States depend on its largesse for development workForce in the States without Central aid. Is it not, therefore, appropriatepowers between the Centre <strong>and</strong> the States?There is another more compelling reason for my above contention.Could there be a second opinion about the fact that all Criminal Laws<strong>of</strong> the L<strong>and</strong> should be uniform throughout the country? That we havecommon IPC, Cr.P.C., Evidence Act <strong>and</strong> some other laws is the legacy<strong>of</strong> the Raj. How can the Centre frame new Criminal Laws that may6 January - March, 2013
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