Relevance: GS-3: Various Security Forces and Agencies and their Mandate.

Key Phrases: Indian Penal Code (IPC), Dowry Prohibition Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, Section 377 of the IPC, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Model Police Act, right to privacy.

Why in News?

• As India is celebrating 75 years of Independence, the police continue to be in the public gaze, most often for antagonistic reasons.
• Criminal laws and procedures, though modified, and the shadows of India’s colonial legacy do not appear to leave the police agency any time soon.

Changes to the IPC:

• India’s parliamentarians rose to the occasion and passed The Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, with an objective more to reform, rather than punish, offenders.
• Realising the urgent need to check the social evil of dowry, the Dowry Prohibition Act was passed in 1961.
• More revolutionary changes were made in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 1983 and 1986 by introducing Sections 498A (cruelty by husband and his relatives) and 304B (dowry death) along with certain amendments in the Evidence Act.
• The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, was enacted in 1989.
• The definition of rape has been widened and offenses related to sexual assault made tougher.
• Comprehensive laws such as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, have been enacted.
• Electronic documents and signatures have been given legal sanctity to facilitate online transactions and check cybercrime under the Information Technology Act of 2000.
• The National Investigation Agency was constituted in 2008 (after the deadly 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai) to investigate and prosecute offenses affecting national security.
• All these statutes have added a progressive and more humane chapter to the history of our criminal justice system.
• By reading down Section 377 of the IPC, the Supreme Court granted relief to the LGBTQ+ community.
• Custodial torture and sexual harassment of women have been held to be violations of fundamental rights.
• The jurisprudence of providing compensation to victims of crime has evolved.
• The right to privacy has been recognized as a fundamental right.
• The demon of ‘sedition’ (Section 124A), which was brought into the IPC in 1870 to suppress the national movement, has recently been caged by the Supreme Court so that its constitutionality can be decided and its alleged misuse is curbed.

Issue of trust deficit:

• Attempts have been made to blend some elements of the inquisitorial system (based on thorough inquiry before trial) into the (prevalent) adversarial system by making judicial inquiry into custodial death and custodial rape mandatory and digging out the truth to punish the guilty.
• However, the police continue to be haunted by allegations of brute force.
• The trust deficit does not appear to have been reduced despite the power to arrest having been curtailed, the use of handcuffs restrained, the presence of a lawyer permitted during interrogation, CCTV cameras installed in the police stations, and human rights bodies allowed to keep a constant eye.
• Lawmakers are still reluctant and the judiciary apprehensive about making voluntary confessions before a police officer admissible.

Need for reform:

• Many committees have been constituted and recommendations made to reform the criminal justice system in general and the police in particular, but to no avail.
• Despite ‘Police’ is a State subject, no State government has given due attention to police reforms so far.
• Though the Police Act of 1861 was made applicable to all provinces after the 1902-03 Commission’s recommendations, no State or UT has adopted the Model Police Act drafted by Soli J. Sorabjee.
• Many provisions, despite having outlived their purpose long ago, continue to exist not only in the States’ Police Acts but also in the criminal codes.
• For instance, The District Superintendent of Police is unable to transfer his Station House Officers without the approval of the District Magistrate in U.P.; the performance appraisal report of a Superintendent of Police is still written by the District Magistrate in some States (including Chhattisgarh) despite the Supreme Court’s directions to the contrary, and the introduction of the Police Commissionerate System in metropolitan areas (as per the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code) is always resisted tooth and nail.

Years of significance:

• The year 1861 was a turning point for the police in India. Though the process of drafting the IPC had begun much earlier in 1834, the revolt of 1857 gave a fillip to the drafting of the Police Act and laid the foundation for an organized police force, albeit a weak one.
• The main objective then was to use the police as a weapon of repression and strengthen the hold the British had over India.
• The prevention (and detection) of crime was never their priority. Most of the constabulary was illiterate and not paid even a living wage.
• It was therefore not surprising that Andrew H.L. Fraser, who headed the Police Commission (1902-03), concluded that the “police force is far from efficient; it is defective in training and organization, it is generally regarded as corrupt and oppressive, and it has utterly failed to secure the confidence and cordial co-operation of people”.

Way forward:

• Since much time has elapsed and conditions changed since 1861, serious attention is needed to address impending issues.
• While some police reforms may require additional funding, much of the trust deficit can be bridged by improving soft skills and ensuring investigation impartially.
• Unwanted and mechanical arrests need to be stopped. More offenses can be made bailable and more brought under the ambit of compounding to lighten the burden on jails.
• Most of it can be achieved through proper training. The use of technology and forensic techniques must be encouraged to enhance the quality of evidence.
• Specialised wings need to be established to deal with newer types of crime.
• The police should be accountable only for their constitutional goal of establishing the rule of law and the shackles of 1861 must go.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. India requires a police force that is responsive and respected and not one that is feared, as is the case today. In light of the statement discuss the need for police reforms in India.