Reforms and major concerns
India's police continue to be governed by an colonial police law passed in 1861. The Indian Constitution makes policing a state subject and therefore the state governments have the responsibility to provide their communities with a police service. However, after independence, most have adopted the 1861 Act without change, while others have passed laws heavily based on the 1861 Act.
Repeated major incidents, (latest of them being 2012 Delhi gang rape) revealed failure of police to uphold the rule of law.
The need for reform of police in India has been long recognised. There has been almost 30 years of debate and discussion by government created committees and commissions on the way forward for police reform, but India remains saddled with an outdated and old-fashioned law, while report after report gathers dust on government bookshelves without implementation. Many committees on police reforms have recommended major reforms in the police system coupled with systematic accountability.[43][44]
Recently, several IPS officers were arrested and jailed in graft and corruption cases[47][48][49] In recent years, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has dismissed few IPS officers for non-performance.
Some IPS officers have been convicted of fake encounters.
National Police Commission was the first committee set up by the Indian government to report on policing. The National Police Commission began sitting in 1979, in the context of a post-Emergency India, and produced eight reports, including a Model Police Act, between 1979 and 1981.
Ribeiro Committee (1998-99)
In 1996, two former senior police officers filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court, asking for the Court to direct governments to implement the recommendations of the National Police Commission. The Supreme Court directed the government to set up a committee to review the Commission's recommendations, and thus the Ribeiro Committee was formed. The Committee, under the leadership of J. F. Ribeiro, a former chief of police, sat over 1998 and 1999, and produced two reports.
In 2000, the government set up a third committee on police reform, this time under the stewardship of a former union Home Secretary, K. Padmanabhaiah. This Committee released its report in the same year
The Malimath Committee Report submitted in March, 2003 has very articulately laid down the foundation of a restructured and reoriented police system.[56] The Committee in its report observed that the success of the whole process of Criminal Justice Administration depended completely on the proper functioning of the police organisation especially in the investigation stage. Apart from the investigation of offences, the police also have the duty of maintaining law and order.
In 2005, the government put together a group to draft a new police Act for India. It was headed by Soli Sorabjee (former Attorney General). The committee submitted a Model Police Act to the union government in late 2006.
In 1996, Prakash Singh (a former chief of Assam Police and Uttar Pradesh Police and subsequently Director General of the Border Security Force) initiated a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court of India, asking the court to investigate measures to reform the police forces across India to ensure the proper rule of law and improve security across India. The Supreme Court studied various reports on police reforms. Finally, in 2006, a bench of Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Justice C.K. Thakker and Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan ordered the state governments to implement several reforms in police force.
Several measures were identified as necessary to professionalise the police in India:
· A mid or high ranking police officer must not be transferred more frequently than every two years.
· The state government cannot ask the police force to hire someone, nor can they choose the Director General of the State Police.
· There must be separate departments and staff for investigation and patrolling,[59] which will include the creation of:
· A State Security Commission, for policies and direction
· A Police Establishment Board, which will decide the selection, promotions and transfers of police officers and other staff
· A Police Complaints Authority, to inquire into allegations of police misconduct.
In 2006, due to a lack of action by all the state governments, the Supreme Court ordered the state governments to report to it why the reform measures outlined were not implemented. After being questioned in front of the judges of the Supreme Court, the state governments are finally starting to reform the police forces and give them the operational independence they need for fearless and proper law enforcement. Tamil Nadu Police has been in the forefront of application of the new referendum.
Again, in October 2012, a Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices Surinder Singh Nijjar and Jasti Chelameswar asked all state governments and Union territories to inform about compliance of its September 2006 judgement. The order was passed when Prakash Singh through his lawyer Prashant Bhushan said that many of the reforms (ordered by the Supreme Court) have yet not been implemented by many state governments.