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Cops script reformed version of Police Act, so be prepared for
police state
S P Singh TOP
COPS script dreams into draft Bill and, voila! recipe for a
police state is ready: all civilian powers to police, and no
check on misuse. But the dream seems running into trouble.
After 143 years, after an
empire-to-democracy shift and decades after cries for police
reform pierced the nation-state's conscience, Punjab police has
now made a determined bid to have a new Punjab Police Act to
replace the 1861 edition, but the draft bill scripted by top
bosses of the force has created a scare among the civil service
officers and politicians who see it as a bid to turn Punjab into
a police state.
A cursory reading of the Punjab Police Bill
draft, submitted to the government and currently under a scanner
of civil authorities, seeks to create a State Security
Commission and a Commissionerate system but most importantly,
seeks to shift almost all powers wielded by District
Magistrates/Deputy Commissioners to the police.
Sources in the government said though those
behind the Bill claim to have drafted it in the light of
recommendations of various police commissions, several
provisions of the draft Bill are more draconian than any
provided hitherto in any piece of legislation. Besides, the
state government is not at all prepared to usher in the
Commissioner system in police.
Section 25 of the draft Bill provides for
State Security Commission with Home Minister as Chairman, two
ruling party and an opposition MLA as members, four members from
among retired High Court judges, government servants or social
activists and DGP as member-secretary. Apart from minister and
DGP, all others would be CM's nominees. Entire administration of
the force would be done through this Commission (S.26), which
can take all decisions with just any four members attending
(S.28).
So powerful will be the Commission that if
the government in an emergency issues any policy directive
directly or "guidelines in regard to a specific situation", it
would have to be ratified by the Commission which can also make
any modifications (S.37).
Cities/towns would have Commissioners of
Police, Additional Commissioners, Joint or Deputy Commissioners
(S.8) while other areas could have good old SPs, DSPs etc
(S.9). "Any officer...may at any time (himself) appoint any
able-bodied person (as) Special Police Officer." Better still,
this SPOs will have same identification (S.21.2a), same powers,
privileges and immunities as any ordinary police
officer(S.21.2b).
In a pinch, the citizens in a disturbed
area would have another problem: they would be billed for
providing them security. Section 24 provides that government can
proclaim an area to be disturbed, additional force would then be
deployed and "if the government desires, the cost of such
additional police force may be borne by the inhabitants of such
area described in the proclamation." If you have doubts, refer
to rules which will be drafted by, you guessed it, a cop
(S.24.4).
Whether any act, gesture, mimicry,
exhibition may offend decency or morality or incite violence is
to be judged only by Commissioner of Police or Superintendent of
Police (S.53.1.f). These worthy authorities can also prohibit
any assembly, or restrain a person from any task for 30 days.
The state government can of course extend it to 6 months. No
civil authority for this has been involved in the draft Bill.
Icing on the cake is Section 73 which
provides for giving the Commissioner and SPs "the powers and
duties of an Executive Magistrate and of a District Magistrate"
which are provided for magistracy in the CrPC. So important is
this proviso for those who fathered this draft that they added
another rider, lest the CrPC comes in the way: "The provisions
of this section shall have effect notwithstanding anything
contained in the said Code."■
October 10, 2004
See also:
Punjab Police Boss wants to change the
shape of things after 143 years DGP suggests reforms in the 1861 Act, sends artistes
scurrying for cover
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A
London
newspaper asked a noted British novelist and an equally
distinguished American poet to record their choices of the ten
most beautiful words in the English language. The British
selection was: carnation, azure, peril, moon, forlorn, heart,
silence, shadow, April and apricot. The American choice was:
dawn, hush, lullaby, murmuring, tranquil, mist, luminous,
chimes, golden and melody.
Bernard
Newman’s The New Europe includes a story of a professor at a
cosmopolitan university who set his class to writing a
thesis on the general subject of “The Elephant.” The
Englishman devoted his essay to, “The Elephant and How to
Hunt Him.” The Frenchman considered “The Strange Love Life
of the Elephant.” The German entitled his tract, “Are
Elephants Aryan – and Can they be Eaten?” The Russian
produced, “The Elephant – Does it Exist?” The Pole, whose
piece was as long as all the others put together, wrote on,
“The Elephant and the Polish Question.”
Any
man who, at the age of eighty-eight, can dismiss a visitor with
a chirpy, “Get along with you now; I’m fully two years behind in
my work as it is,” is a force to be reckoned with. That’s what
George Bernard told his lawyer Morris Ernst when he came
visiting. |
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