The primary objective of the Model Police in a democratic set up is to maintain law and order while protecting the social structure and fundamental rights [1]. However, the modern police is anything but model.
“Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This saying seems to be the most appropriate words to describe the state of Police in India. The Code of Criminal Procedure in Section 132 and Section 197 provides for immunity to be given to police officers from criminal prosecution in the course of their service. This immunity though meant to facilitate the working of the Police in good faith, it in actuality instills an unrealistic level of confidence that the actions of Police men are not to be put into question before a court of law.
In 1972, the first instance of police brutality under judicial review came into being with the Mathura Rape Case [2]. In the infamous custodial rape case, the Supreme Court of India acquitted policemen who were guilty of raping an adolescent tribal girl in their police station. Though the public outcry in the Mathura Rape Case did bring about an amendment in the definition of rape as per the Indian Penal Code, the instances and manner of police brutality has only escalated since [3].
In 1976, the Court was again faced with a case of police brutality wherein Police Officers killed the father of an accused because he succeeded in fleeing his son when the Police Officers came to arrest him [4]. The Supreme Court held the police officers guilty of murder and in a similar case in the year 1980 [5] also set out certain guidelines which ensure that the police respect the fundamental rights of the people.
| CJM Naidiad N.L. Patel illegally arrested by the Gujrat Police |
These guidelines fell on deaf ears and the year 1989 saw one of the judiciary’s own being harrassed by the police which brought before the Supreme Court the case of N.L. Patel, Chief Judicial Magistrate Naidiad [6] wherein two police officers were sentenced to six months imprisonment for arresting and torturing the Chief Judicial Magistrate without any probable cause.
In 1993 the Supreme Court upon a letter of the mother of the accused, ordered an inquiry into the death of the accused under police custody wherein the official version claimed that the individual ran away from custody and died in a train accident [7]. The inquiry led to unveiling of the conspiracy of policemen who were then tried and convicted of murder.
In 1995, the Law Commission of India in its report to the parliament submitted that “The alarming rise in custodial crimes has pricked the conscience and has invoked public outcry against the law enforcing agencies of the society” [8]. The Supreme Court and the National Human Rights Commission have since been making efforts to ensure that the events of police brutality cease to exist in India, however, the arbitrary powers given to the police under the Criminal Procedure code coupled with the impunity given to police officers has made it impossible for their efforts to succeed.
In one of the cases the Supreme Court remarked “Nothing is more cowardly and unconscionable than a person in police custody being beaten up and nothing inflicts a deeper wound on our Constitutional Culture than a State Officer running berserk regardless of human rights.” [9]
Disregard for basic human rights of people under custody has become a norm for the Police in India. Third Degree Torture and Custodial Deaths have become an intrinsic part of Police Investigation & Practice in India [10]. It wouldn’t be so far-fetched to say that if a case such as that of Rodney King [11] were to happen in India nobody would blink an eye. The normalization of police brutality and torture by the Indian Media and Movies has more people rooting for police brutality than those fearing the abrogation and derogation of their rights [12].
Today, the Policemen of the nation are not afraid of any repercussions for causing physical harm to anyone who dares to question their methods. Every other day, you can see a person in uniform slapping a citizen or beating someone with a lathi based on their own whims and not acting under any direction or order of their executive superiors. Even when these incidents are reported, the maximum that happens is a departmental inquiry which is a case of pure departmental bias and avails no remedy to the general public.
Every act of Police brutality is the murder of Fundamental Right to Life and Liberty guaranteed under the Indian Constitution. The cause of this murder of liberty is because of the guiding legislation of the Police Forces which is the colonial era Police Act, 1861 the underlying legislative intent of which was suppressing and brutalizing the people of India. The mass acceptance of police brutality as the norm is because of the role of the media in glorifying the instances of police brutality as effective measures for public order.
Every public servant is first and foremost answerable to the Constitution and the people. Any man in the colours of law and acting on his own whims is violating the Right to Life and Personal Liberty which the Constitution guarantees to every person residing in India. Procedure established by law is the only accepted legal reason to violate the Right to Life and Personal Liberty; whims isn’t.
There is a desperate need to instil the constitutional values in our police system or else those charged with maintaining law and order would be the torchbearers of Social Injustice. Police reforms in India are a necessity which needs to be coupled with all branches of our democracy coming together to protect our fundamental rights and constitutional values.
Bibliography
[1] Remington, F., 1965. The Role of Police in a Democratic Society. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 56(3), p.366.
[2] Tuka Ram & Anr. v. State of Maharashtra, (1979) 2 SCC 143.
[3] Human Rights Watch. 2020. Broken System | Dysfunction, Abuse, And Impunity In The Indian Police. [online] Available at: <https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/08/04/broken-system/dysfunction-abuse-and-impunity-i
[4] Gajendra Kumar v. State of Rajasthan, 1988 WLN (UC) 460
[5] Niranjan Singh v. Prabhakar Rajaram Kharote & Ors., 1980 AIR 785.
[6] Delhi Judicial Service Association v. State of Gurajat and Ors., 1991 (3) R.C.R (Criminal) 566.
[7] Neelbati Bahera v. State of Orissa, 1993 AIR 1960.
[8] M. J. Antony, Landmark Judgements on Illegal Custody and Police I, 1997, Indian Social Institute, New Delhi.
[9] Kishore Singh v. State of Rajasthan, AIR 1981 SC 625.
[10] Arora, N., 1999. Custodial Deaths in Police Stations in India: A Radical Assessment. Journal of Indian Law Institute, 41(3), p.513.
[11] Linder, D., 2007. The Trials of Los Angeles Police Officers’ in Connection with the Beating of Rodney King. SSRN Electronic Journal,.
[12] 2018. The Status Of Policing In India Report 2018. Common Cause India, p.98.