Recent public debate about relation between CBI and proposed body of lokpal has raised a question of investigative agency’s autonomy. In Indian society when something goes wrong, a loot, a murder, a corruption scandal, we are very quick to blame the police department and other investigative agencies for this lapse. There is nobody who would deny that police is one of the most corrupt public institutions in India. But is that the whole story? Are the police officer’s inefficiency and corruption something they are born with or something systemic? Let us examine this issue.
If we want to understand the working of any public office, we must understand first that a sound balance between autonomy and accountability (legal responsibility) is a must for proper working of any such office. Police and CBI are no exception to this rule. If we give more autonomy than responsibility it can become inefficient and dictatorial. So the proper control over police and CBI is a must. That is why our constitution gave the control of police in hands of elected representatives.
But here the script went wrong. In a democracy, and that too a nascent democracy like India, politicians and even general public is more interested in personal advancement on the expanse of society as a whole. So whenever a political party comes to power, it uses the police and CBI to harass opponent and dissolve cases against itself. We should not become too critical of political parties because it is more or less guaranteed that if such power is given to you sir, you will not hesitate to use it for personal gains.
In this way, key lies in giving proper autonomy to the investigative agencies. Politicians and judiciary should not have too much of a say in day to day matters of police/CBI such as promotion, transfer etc. Politics should be confined to the policy making about police. A model police act was proposed by SC in Prakash Singh vs Union of India case. If implemented it can solve all the major problems of police. Directives in a nutshell are:
1. Constitute a State Security Commission (SSC) to ensure that the state government does not exercise unwarranted influence or pressure on the police; lay down broad policy guideline; and evaluate the performance of the state police.
2. Ensure that the director general of police is appointed through a merit-based transparent process and secure a minimum tenure of two years.
3. Ensure that other police officers on operational duties (including superintendents of police in-charge of a district and station house officers in-charge of a police station) are also provided a minimum tenure of two years.
4. Separate the investigation and law and order functions of the police.
5. Set up a Police Establishment Board (PEB) to decide transfers, postings, promotions and other service-related matters of police officers of and below the rank of deputy superintendent of police and make recommendations on postings and transfers above the rank of deputy superintendent of police.
6. Set up a Police Complaints Authority (PCA) at state level to inquire into public complaints against police officers of and above the rank of deputy superintendent of police in cases of serious misconduct, including custodial death, grievous hurt, or rape in custody and at district levels to inquire into public complaints against the personnel below the rank of deputy superintendent of police in cases of serious misconduct.
7. Set up a National Security Commission (NSC) at the union level to prepare a panel for selection and placement of chiefs of the central police organizations (CPO) and CBI with a minimum tenure of two years.
But in my opinion SC was just kidding. How can we expect political parties, who use police as their private militia, to implement such act? Nobody gives up his power just because it is better for nation. It is just a hope that someday another anna, another gandhi will come who can create a public outcry and, more importantly, has political acumen to get such act passed from parliament. Till then, we are either too weak to say something or too rich to care about bribe or too indifferent to be a citizen.
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