Misuse of Power by Police and Misuse of Police by Persons in Authority
Rajendra Bora
I would like to begin by quoting management guru Arindam Chaudhury whose recent book has taken the Indian business world by storm. In his best selling book “Count Your Chikens Before They Hatch” Arindam tells an interesting observation about Japanese people in the chapter titled “Pegging Cultural Holes”. In Japan “when a man runs short of money in the market place and goes to borrow some from the policeman round the corner, he meets with a pleasant experience. The policeman might not even ask for his address, for, trust levels are too high and policeman knows that a Japanese would rarely cheat his country. When this is how a citizen is treated. In turn he also acts responsibly and reacts by picking up a wastepaper lying by the road and taking it home to throw in his dust bin”.
It may sound a fairy tale to us Indians because the Police force is just not considered as a friend here despite all efforts made in the past to make it so. The overwhelming perception of the common people about the Police is that it is a “force of monsters”. The man in uniform does not come out with flying colours in the hour of needs of common people. Therefore, it is not surprising that half of the total complaints being received by the National Human Rights Commission of India annually are against Police personnel.
It is quite educating if one scans the nature of complaints being received by the Commission because it gives a fair idea about the force which is considered as the most visible organ of the State. These complaints indicate that the Indian Police Force is not only “brutal and lawless, highly corrupt, partisan and politicized” but also lacks “professional competence”.
The Role of Police is every society is always critical because the main tasks of the State , that of maintenance of public order and peace and ensuring protection of citizens, are performed by this force. It is said that the importance of policing stems from the fact that in ultimate analysis the sanction behind state power is the use of force. Since the Police is the tool to enforce the will of the State, the functioning of the Police denotes the level of democracy. When the power of uniform is abused the weaker sections of the society are more oppressed.
The Police Commission in its first report had stated that “one of the fundamental requisites of good government in a democracy is an institutionalized arrangement for effectively guarding against excesses or omissions by the executive in the exercise of their powers or discharge of their mandatory duties which cause injury, harm, annoyance or undue hardship to any individual citizen”.
This check against abuse of authority is most vital in case of the Police force that enjoys abundant power over the people affecting their rights, including that of life and liberty.
Despite explicit constitutional checks and balances, all fundamental rights of a citizen become irrelevant for at least 24 hours before his mandatory production before a magistrate. As the Police Commission pointed out “powers of arrest, search, seizure, institution of a criminal case in court, preparation of reports on the alleged anti-social conduct of any specific individual etc. mark several stages in the executive police action which afford large scope for misconduct by the Police personnel in different ranks, particularly at the operational level causing harm and harassment to the citizens.
During the pre-independence days of British and feudal rule the function of the Police was to establish authority of its masters over the subjects. It is interesting to note the observation of the Police Commission of 1902 which described the British Indian Police as “tyrannical and dishonest”. It is no different now.
The Police force inherited by Independent India had no experience of functioning in democratic governance. Adoption of short cuts and illegal and brutal methods continued unabated not only dehumanizing the Force but also sapping their skill and competence. This causes decline in law and order and erosion of human rights.
Given our colonial legacy the Police learnt only as to how to protect the ruler by suppressing all rebellion and dissent. The present “democratically elected rulers” still want the Police act in the same way.
It is said that an illegitimate political system is inclined to use the Police force illegally to buttress itself. An ideologically bankrupt polity also behaves in a similar fashion making the Police an ultimate agent of corruption. Therefore, the perception of the people that the Police is an instrument of oppression and abuse of power is not off the mark.
In the Indian context the Police is a State subject. That means that the Force is controlled by the present political masters in states. We have seen a tendency of the political executive to use or abuse the Police Force for partisan and personal ends. The governance has been reduced to patronage by way of transfers and postings of bureaucrats. By doing this the persons in power ensures the loyalty of the Police personnel to them and their party cadres. Here comes the misuse of Police by persons in authority that in turn results in misuse of power by the Police.
Because the Police officials allow themselves to be used by political masters or people in authority it seems to me that law enforcement officer simply are in wrong profession. This is the profession that should have no place for spineless persons.
Policing is too serious a business to be left to policemen and politicians alone. However, despite literature galore on the subject there are as yet no coherent ideas about what should be done to make police follow the constitutional mandate. There is no lack of talent in the Indian Police Force that can boast of exceptional quality officers who are able to evolve creative responses to new problems. However, it is a big question whether they are allowed to do so. Their responses rarely find institutional expression or lead to structural reforms. For this, an informed public debate is necessary.
The behaviour of individual officers is a very gray thing. The pressures on them from the higher ups, from the organization and its structure and the society mean that the officers operate in a minefield, an in an area where mistakes are not just mistakes they can learn from, they are often disastrous. I think one of the main problems for policing is loyalty. Loyalty to the society, in whose service the police force function and operate.
And what is about the police culture. It is the culture of taking sides. Society expects the policemen to function fairly and impartially but it is a far dream. In the public perception the Police acts only when there is pressure from above or the palms of policemen are greased.
Despite repeated recommendations of the Police Commissions little has been done for police reforms. We have economic reforms, we have power sector reforms, and we have money market reforms. But there is no talk of police reform. There is a strong resistance to the idea of police reforms because politicians and bureaucrats both have developed a great vested interest in retaining control and superintendence over the Police organization. Within the Police establishment also there are those who are content to retain the status quo. They are closely associated with powerful interests and allow the system to continue.
This system is resulting in subverting the rule of law and also obstructing the growth of a healthy and professional system.
Police does not work in a vacuum. It works in a social and political order. The situation in India has been complicated by not very fair political and electoral system largely funded by black money and criminal muscle power. Such system uses the Police force for its parochial end.
Therefore, for the evolution of a responsible Police force we shall have to create a responsible and responsive polity. But that seems to be a tall order and there is no effort from any quarter to bring the change. There is complete lack of leadership in every field whether it in religious. We have no leaders in true sense who could guide us and lead us to a better democratic governance.
But till we get another Gandhi let us do a little bit ourselves. Debate our ills. That is what we are doing here today.
A beginning can be made by implementing the Police Commission’s recommendations that included suggestion of establishment of a state security commission in every state as a statutory body. The state security commission can lay down policy guidelines for the performance of preventive and service oriented functions by the Police and can evaluate the performance of the state police every year. Although the state legislatures discuss the functioning of police during budget sessions but we know how low the level of discussion there has gone down. There is hardly any objective or constructive discussion on any subject in legislatures.
The police commission can also act as a forum where police personnel could air their grievances over illegal orders and their shifting for not obeying political masters.
There is an urgent need for an independent auditor or monitor to check unfair investigation means.
The police force is really needed to be accountable to create people’s confidence in it.. It should have to be made to understand that it cannot get away with anything it wants to.
The country has invested hugely in the expansion of police force but no related investment has been made in holding its personnel accountable. And that should be our main priority.
(A keynote address presented at a workshop held at University of Rajasthan)
I would like to begin by quoting management guru Arindam Chaudhury whose recent book has taken the Indian business world by storm. In his best selling book “Count Your Chikens Before They Hatch” Arindam tells an interesting observation about Japanese people in the chapter titled “Pegging Cultural Holes”. In Japan “when a man runs short of money in the market place and goes to borrow some from the policeman round the corner, he meets with a pleasant experience. The policeman might not even ask for his address, for, trust levels are too high and policeman knows that a Japanese would rarely cheat his country. When this is how a citizen is treated. In turn he also acts responsibly and reacts by picking up a wastepaper lying by the road and taking it home to throw in his dust bin”.
It may sound a fairy tale to us Indians because the Police force is just not considered as a friend here despite all efforts made in the past to make it so. The overwhelming perception of the common people about the Police is that it is a “force of monsters”. The man in uniform does not come out with flying colours in the hour of needs of common people. Therefore, it is not surprising that half of the total complaints being received by the National Human Rights Commission of India annually are against Police personnel.
It is quite educating if one scans the nature of complaints being received by the Commission because it gives a fair idea about the force which is considered as the most visible organ of the State. These complaints indicate that the Indian Police Force is not only “brutal and lawless, highly corrupt, partisan and politicized” but also lacks “professional competence”.
The Role of Police is every society is always critical because the main tasks of the State , that of maintenance of public order and peace and ensuring protection of citizens, are performed by this force. It is said that the importance of policing stems from the fact that in ultimate analysis the sanction behind state power is the use of force. Since the Police is the tool to enforce the will of the State, the functioning of the Police denotes the level of democracy. When the power of uniform is abused the weaker sections of the society are more oppressed.
The Police Commission in its first report had stated that “one of the fundamental requisites of good government in a democracy is an institutionalized arrangement for effectively guarding against excesses or omissions by the executive in the exercise of their powers or discharge of their mandatory duties which cause injury, harm, annoyance or undue hardship to any individual citizen”.
This check against abuse of authority is most vital in case of the Police force that enjoys abundant power over the people affecting their rights, including that of life and liberty.
Despite explicit constitutional checks and balances, all fundamental rights of a citizen become irrelevant for at least 24 hours before his mandatory production before a magistrate. As the Police Commission pointed out “powers of arrest, search, seizure, institution of a criminal case in court, preparation of reports on the alleged anti-social conduct of any specific individual etc. mark several stages in the executive police action which afford large scope for misconduct by the Police personnel in different ranks, particularly at the operational level causing harm and harassment to the citizens.
During the pre-independence days of British and feudal rule the function of the Police was to establish authority of its masters over the subjects. It is interesting to note the observation of the Police Commission of 1902 which described the British Indian Police as “tyrannical and dishonest”. It is no different now.
The Police force inherited by Independent India had no experience of functioning in democratic governance. Adoption of short cuts and illegal and brutal methods continued unabated not only dehumanizing the Force but also sapping their skill and competence. This causes decline in law and order and erosion of human rights.
Given our colonial legacy the Police learnt only as to how to protect the ruler by suppressing all rebellion and dissent. The present “democratically elected rulers” still want the Police act in the same way.
It is said that an illegitimate political system is inclined to use the Police force illegally to buttress itself. An ideologically bankrupt polity also behaves in a similar fashion making the Police an ultimate agent of corruption. Therefore, the perception of the people that the Police is an instrument of oppression and abuse of power is not off the mark.
In the Indian context the Police is a State subject. That means that the Force is controlled by the present political masters in states. We have seen a tendency of the political executive to use or abuse the Police Force for partisan and personal ends. The governance has been reduced to patronage by way of transfers and postings of bureaucrats. By doing this the persons in power ensures the loyalty of the Police personnel to them and their party cadres. Here comes the misuse of Police by persons in authority that in turn results in misuse of power by the Police.
Because the Police officials allow themselves to be used by political masters or people in authority it seems to me that law enforcement officer simply are in wrong profession. This is the profession that should have no place for spineless persons.
Policing is too serious a business to be left to policemen and politicians alone. However, despite literature galore on the subject there are as yet no coherent ideas about what should be done to make police follow the constitutional mandate. There is no lack of talent in the Indian Police Force that can boast of exceptional quality officers who are able to evolve creative responses to new problems. However, it is a big question whether they are allowed to do so. Their responses rarely find institutional expression or lead to structural reforms. For this, an informed public debate is necessary.
The behaviour of individual officers is a very gray thing. The pressures on them from the higher ups, from the organization and its structure and the society mean that the officers operate in a minefield, an in an area where mistakes are not just mistakes they can learn from, they are often disastrous. I think one of the main problems for policing is loyalty. Loyalty to the society, in whose service the police force function and operate.
And what is about the police culture. It is the culture of taking sides. Society expects the policemen to function fairly and impartially but it is a far dream. In the public perception the Police acts only when there is pressure from above or the palms of policemen are greased.
Despite repeated recommendations of the Police Commissions little has been done for police reforms. We have economic reforms, we have power sector reforms, and we have money market reforms. But there is no talk of police reform. There is a strong resistance to the idea of police reforms because politicians and bureaucrats both have developed a great vested interest in retaining control and superintendence over the Police organization. Within the Police establishment also there are those who are content to retain the status quo. They are closely associated with powerful interests and allow the system to continue.
This system is resulting in subverting the rule of law and also obstructing the growth of a healthy and professional system.
Police does not work in a vacuum. It works in a social and political order. The situation in India has been complicated by not very fair political and electoral system largely funded by black money and criminal muscle power. Such system uses the Police force for its parochial end.
Therefore, for the evolution of a responsible Police force we shall have to create a responsible and responsive polity. But that seems to be a tall order and there is no effort from any quarter to bring the change. There is complete lack of leadership in every field whether it in religious. We have no leaders in true sense who could guide us and lead us to a better democratic governance.
But till we get another Gandhi let us do a little bit ourselves. Debate our ills. That is what we are doing here today.
A beginning can be made by implementing the Police Commission’s recommendations that included suggestion of establishment of a state security commission in every state as a statutory body. The state security commission can lay down policy guidelines for the performance of preventive and service oriented functions by the Police and can evaluate the performance of the state police every year. Although the state legislatures discuss the functioning of police during budget sessions but we know how low the level of discussion there has gone down. There is hardly any objective or constructive discussion on any subject in legislatures.
The police commission can also act as a forum where police personnel could air their grievances over illegal orders and their shifting for not obeying political masters.
There is an urgent need for an independent auditor or monitor to check unfair investigation means.
The police force is really needed to be accountable to create people’s confidence in it.. It should have to be made to understand that it cannot get away with anything it wants to.
The country has invested hugely in the expansion of police force but no related investment has been made in holding its personnel accountable. And that should be our main priority.
(A keynote address presented at a workshop held at University of Rajasthan)
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