The Indian Police: expectations of a

democratic polity

R.K. RAGHAVAN

The Background
The last few years have gen erated an anim ated d iscu ssio n in
diverse forum s on the quality of public ad m in istratio n in th e
country. A critical look at the Indian police th erefore seem s
ap p ro p riate: we m ay ask, how well do the various pu b lic se r­
vice ag en cies, especially the p o lice, fit in to the cu rre n t d e m o ­
cratic m ilieu ? The basic problem , in m y view, is th a t of th e
elected rep resen tativ es of the people— the m em bers o f p a rlia ­
m ent (M P s) in Delhi and m em bers of legislative assem b lies
(M LA s) in the states— w an tin g to exercise near to tal co n tro l
over the civil serv ice, at all levels. They believe th at th is is the
only way th ey can d ischarge the tru st reposed in th em by th e
sovereign , namely, the people. A m ong the several sta te ag en ­
cies, the police feel the im pact of this influence the m o st, be­
cause of the coercive au th o rity they enjoy vis-à-vis th e rest o f
society.
The pow er wielded by the political execu tive con tro llin g the
governm ent at any point of tim e is enorm ous, and is very often
used to con solid ate partisan gains. The resultant situ ation is
m arked by extra-legal, if not illegal, in stru ction s to th e p o lice
w ho con stitu te an im p ortan t arm of the execu tive. C om p lain ts
of partisan action on the part of the police are very often m ade
to the judiciary, and a near confrontation between the latter and
the execu tiv e ensues. The ju d ic ia ry ’s fu lm in ation s o v er th e
police’s lack of objectivity disregard the fundam ental flaw in
the existin g legal system , w hich m akes the police sub servien t
to the execu tive. Im p ortan t recom m end ation s of the N ation al
The Indian Police 289

Police C om m ission (N P C ) of 1 9 7 7 to free the police from such

subordination have n o t yet been acted upon.
Unfortunately, there has been little inform ed debate on the
role of the police in the present Indian polity. Very few observ­
ers of the public scene have ventured to analyse the state of
policing in India at this historic m o m en t.1 Beyond the exp res­
sion of general dissatisfaction at its perform an ce and the de­
m and for m aking it m ore au tonom ous, hum ane and civilized,
there has been little by way of an assessm ent of its strengths
and shortcom ings or its successes and failures.2 Recognizing that
there have been two d istinct periods in the history of the police
in India helps us evaluate the current scene. Broadly speaking, these
are identifiable as the period beginning with the prom ulgation of
the Police Act ( 1 8 6 1 - 1 9 4 7 ) and concluding with the attainment
of independence in 1 9 4 7 , and the post-Independence era, 1 9 4 7 -9 9 .
D uring the first period, the focus of the police w as on per­
petuating alien rule; naturally, the service elem ent received little
attention. This was especially pronounced after the freedom
m ovem ent, spearheaded by M ahatm a Gandhi un der the banner
of the Indian N ational C ongress, gained nationw ide m om en­
tum and posed public order problem s of great m agnitude. In
the second period, i.e., since Independence, w hich is germ ane
to the present exercise, one is pained to see evidence of ves­
tiges of the colonial m entality acquired by the police under B rit­
ish rule. An adversarial relationship w ith the com m u nity is still
apparent in the d ay-to-day con d u ct of the police at the street
level. The broader bases of recruitm ent to the police, better w ork­
ing and living con d ition s, and the accen t on m odernization—
such as scientific aids to investigation, radio com m u n ication
and c o m p u te riz a tio n — have n o t b ro u g h t ab o u t any visible
change in police attitu d es tow ards the co m m o n m an. U nfor­
tunately such attitudes have diluted significant police successes
in tackling terrorism o f the m ost m ilitant v ariety O ne differ­
ence betw een the two periods, how ever, is that the police are
curren tly under greater public scrutiny than before and are sub­
je c t to m ore accountability.3
The period since 1 9 4 7 can be conveniently divided into four
parts. In the first— a span of nearly three decades, 1 9 4 7 - 7 5 —
attem pts were made to impart direction to the econom y as well
as the adm inistration and, incidentally, to set up strong dem o­
290 TRANSFORMING INDIA

cratic traditions. The process suffered a m ajor reversal in 1 9 7 5

when the controversial national Em ergency was im posed, w ith
its attendant im pact on the civil services. The second phase, 1 9 7 7 -
8 0 , albeit brief, was significant for the adm inistrative apparatus,
including the police, for its bold yet unsuccessful efforts towards
reform s aim ed at transparency and a revival of the rule of law.
The third phase saw a generally disturbed law and order situ a­
tion. This— if one treats the insurgency in the N orth-east as a
class apart— had its genesis in the Sikh m ilitancy of the early
19 8 0 s, w hich led to the historic O peration Blue Star (June 3 - 6 ,
1 9 8 4 ), the tragic sequel of Mrs Indira Gandhis assassination (O c ­
tober 3 1 , 1 9 8 4 ) and countryw ide anti-Sikh riots. The virulence
of Sikh terrorism undeniably paved the way, perhaps indirectly,
for m ilitancy of different hues and for a general disrespect of au ­
thority. This added a new dimension to the polity as a whole, and
to police w ork in particular. Finally, we have the current fourth
phase, in w hich judicial activism is m aking the police task of
tackling crim e through strictly legal m ethods, som ew hat easier.

Organization of the Police in Free India

A ccord ing to the C on stitu tion of India, ‘p o lice’ and ‘public o r­
der’ fall w ithin the law -m aking com p eten ce of the tw enty-five
states into w hich the Indian Union is divided. Policing is, th ere­
fore, essen tially a state activ ity alth o u g h , interestingly, sin c e
In d ep en d en ce on e has seen th e cre a tio n o f several fed eral
police forces d irectly un d er the ce n tra l g o vern m en t in D elh i,
to m eet special needs. Am ong these are policing in tern ation al
borders as auxiliary to the defence forces; p ro tectio n of ce n tra l
governm ent installations in the states; and secu rity of national
railway stock (Table 1).
During the five decades since India attained freedom, there has
been a manifold increase in the num erical strength of the police.
From a mere 0 .7 million in 1 9 71, the strength of the civil police in

Table 1 Growth of Central Police/Forces_______________________

1986 1987 198819891990 1991 1992 199S 1996
458,1 70 420,017 463,304 485,439 520,485 554,433 567,851 560,896 579,520

Sources. C rim e in India (1 9 9 5 ) and 1PS Central A ssociation (1 9 9 4 ).4

The Indian Police 291

the country is now nearly 1.3 million. There are 3 9 .5 policemen

per 1 00 sq. kms. and 137 for a population of 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 .5 There is a
police force, headed by a director-general of police (D G P), in each
state. Additionally, there is a force for each of the seven union ter­
ritories which com e under the direct control of the central govern­
m ent. The higher echelons of the forces are m anned by officers
belonging to the Indian Police Service (IPS) who are appointed by
the central governm ent, but allotted to different state police forces
to man supervisory positions. These officers are liable to be drawn
in to serve in central police organizations, on deputation from the
state governm ents, for specific periods.

Responsibilities: Maintaining Public Order

Since attaining independence, India has gone through several
traum as on the law and order front. The first problem to co n ­
front the nation was one of political consolidation; this called for
establishing control over some of the princely states whose rul­
ers were anxious to retain their autonom y even after the British
departed. Kashm ir and Hyderabad were two such states where
decisive action was called for. In Kashmir, it was the Indian arm y
that tackled the problem by throwing out the raiders (a group
com prising armed tribals and members of the Pakistan arm y) sent
by Pakistan to pressurize the ruler into opting for Pakistan. In
H yderabad, it was the police who w ere em ployed. The Nizam
of H yderabad, w ith total disiegard for all logic and geography,
w anted to accede to Pakistan. Responding to popular sentim ent
w hich favoured India, the central governm ent sent a police force
in to the state w hich swiftly brought about a surrender of the
N izam ’s forces. This rem arkable operation— rem em bered even
today as the Hyderabad Police A ction— highlighted the profes­
sional skills and discipline of the Indian police.
The n ext test of police efficiency cam e from the sam e area in
the south, in a cluster of districts called Telengana, during 1 9 4 7 -
5 1 . U neven distribution of land and gross ill-treatm ent of farm
w ork ers by landlords generated a strong leftist m ovem ent here.
The peasants, under the aegis of the C om m unist Party, indulged
in large-scale violence against landholders. Since the police from
Hyderabad was unequal to the task, large contingents were req­
u isition ed from the neighb ou rin g M adras State (n ow Tamil
292 TRANSFORMING INDIA

N adu). The m ovem ent was contained in the cou rse of tim e, al­
though the m ethods em ployed by the police w ere d en ou nced
by som e as brutal and illegal. This area has again been the scen e
of violent activity by Left extrem ists under the ban ner of the
People’s W ar G roup (P W G ), w hose tactics have taken the form
of laying landm ines on police routes and attack ing p olice sta ­
tions. There have been several encou nters between them resu lt­
ing in heavy police and civilian casualties.
The problem s faced by the police on the law and ord er front
since 1 9 5 0 fall into the following broad categories:
(i) violent agitations by linguistic groups to redraw the p o ­
litical m ap so as to earm ark one state for each language;
(ii) sim ilar tactics by tribal groups, particu larly those in the
N orth -east;
(iii) dem ands for the redistribution of land ow nership, voiced
initially by the C om m unist Party, and subsequently by
extrem ist groups, arising out of the Indian com m u n ist
m ovem ent, leading to the liquidation of ‘class enem ies’
and police inform ants;
(iv) violent agitations engineered by political parties, o sten ­
sibly in support of som e live econ o m ic or social issue,
but m ainly to bring down lawfully elected governm ents;
(v) terrorism by groups in Punjab and K ashm ir w anting to
secede from the Indian U nion;
(vi) violent clashes arising out of the un concealed fundam en­
talism espoused by the two m ost p rom in en t religious
groups, namely, Hindus and M uslim s, w ith som e of the
latter being aided and abetted by Pakistan;
(vii) endem ic caste clashes in the rural hinterlan d, often cen ­
tering on antagonistic land claim s and related problem s
betw een landlords and agricultural w ork ers; and
(viii) the em ergence of a sharp division betw een the forward
and backw ard classes follow ing the in tro d u ctio n of a
quota system for distribution of places in ed u cation al in­
stitu tion s, and for governm ent staff selections.

The Police Response

A few general observations are possible here. Large p arts of the
cou n try suffer from attem pts by various groups to tin k er with
The Indian Police 293

public order. The violence varies only quantitatively. As a re­

sult, police forces have to be in a perpetual state of readiness.
A lm ost every state, at som e tim e or other, seeks the cen tral
governm ent’s help to provide police forces, such as the C entral
R eserve Police F o rce or B order Security F o rce , to bring w hat is
u su ally eu p h em istically d escrib ed as ‘a d isturbed s itu a tio n ’
u n d er co n tro l. Requisitioning the police of a neighboring state
is also com m o n . The resort to firearm s by the police to quell
riots is the order of the day. Very often, this is followed by a
popular dem and, backed by political parties in the O pposition,
for a ju d icial inquiry to find out w h ether such use was justified
by the circu m stan ces of an incident. E x ce p t in a very few cases,
su ch inquiries always end in favour of the police.
Two aspects of the current public order situation— terrorism and
in ter-relig io u s co n flict— deserve detailed con sid eratio n for a
balanced evaluation of police perform ance in post-Independence
India.

C o u n ter-terro rism — W hile there has been m uch criticism of the

Indian police, som e of it ju stified, a serving officer can only say
th at, on the w hole, the police response to terrorism in Punjab
and in Jam m u & K ashm ir has been com m endable. High quali­
ties of leadership and courage have been displayed.
Two asp ects of the scen e, one positive and the other n ega­
tive, com pel atten tio n . The m ilitant tactics of terrorists have
dem anded a great degree of professionalism on the part of the
state police. This has called for standards of recru itm en t and
training on p ar w ith those of the arm y and central governm ent
police forces, such as the B order Security and C entral Reserve
Police F o rce. On the negative side, police retaliation against
terro rist violence has occasionally been assailed as am ounting
to ov er-reactio n . There have been num erous com plaints of e x ­
cesses w hich have generated a public debate on issues a sso ci­
ated w ith hu m an rights, and have exerted trem endous pressure
on the police at the ground level.
Again, on the positive side, while the situation in J& K re­
m ains u n certain , the transform ation in Punjab is rem arkable.
E lection s to the state assem bly in Punjab were held in Feb ru ary
1 9 9 2 , after a lapse of several years. A popularly elected go vern ­
m ent has been in place since 2 5 Feb ru ary 1 9 9 2 . The state has
294 TRANSFORMING INDIA

since gone through an o th er round of d em ocratic election s, an

am azing turnaround. An internationally supported and heavily
arm ed te rro rist m o v em en t has been n eu tralized th ro u g h a
painstakingly devised m ulti-pronged strategy. This deserves a
study by itself. The central governm ent has played a co n stru c­
tive role in giving shape to the strategy and its follow-up. It has
provided enorm ous logistical support, an exam ple of w hat an ef­
fective and enlightened federal governm ent can do. The G overn­
m ent of India can take pride in its reaction to an e xtrao rd in ary
public order situ ation in on e of its states.6

C om m unal Riots— Again, on the negative side, we ca n say th at

one m ajor criticism of the Indian police during the past three
decades has been its apparent inability to handle inter-religious
conflict professionally. There have been m any clashes, com m only
known as com m unal riots, between m em bers of different reli­
gions, especially between Hindus and Muslims. Two specific com ­
plaints have been, a bias in favour of the Hindu rioter, and the
delayed and excessive use o f force. Several com m ission s of in­
quiry have looked into the causes of these riots. They have been
p articu larly concern ed w ith the part played by those in the civil
adm in istration charged w ith the task of preventing rio ts, or at
least w ith quelling them in the early stages, so as to m inim ize
dam age to life and property.
The gravam en of the charge upheld by m any com m ission s is
that of an initial lack of police firm ness against the rio ters. The
observation of the Jaganm ohan Reddy C om m ission,7 w hich stud­
ied the Septem ber 1 9 6 9 riots in Ahm edabad and o th e r G ujarat
tow ns in w hich 5 2 4 people lost their lives, is relevan t:

The police lost the initiative and, once the situation got out of con ­
trol at the very com m encem ent of the riot, they were overwhelm ed by
the situation which confronted them.
A lack of judgem ent of a developing situation is another shortcom ­
ing. The D istrict au thorities, police and the magistracy, very often
ignored evidence in the form of isolated incidents that could ignite
religious feelings. As a result, in a short time, they were faced w ith a
situation that required action w hich was beyond their capacity.

A nother com m ission also referred to interference from the higher

echelons of governm ent. In its view, this greatly cram p ed the
The Indian Police 295

style and autonom y of field officers, thereby affecting their abil­

ity to con tain rio ts.8
Perhaps the m ost serious com plaint has been the alleged p o ­
lice failure to p ro ject a n eu tral im age. The Ju s tic e Jite n d ra
N arayan C om m ission w hich looked into the 1 9 7 9 Jam sh ed p u r
riots, criticized the pro-H indu actio n of the Bihar M ilitary P o ­
lice. In the Aligarh riots of 1 9 7 9 and the M oradabad riots of
1 9 8 0 , a sim ilar im pression of p olice bias against the m inority
com m u nity was dom inant am ong the public.9 Deeply concerned
w ith the effect of repeated clashes betw een religious groups on
the social fabric, the central governm ent m aintains an active
dialogue with state governm ents. One significant developm ent
is the identification of trouble-prone, com m unally sensitive dis­
tricts in every state. These require so m uch special attention
that a continuous m onitoring of inter-religious relations is m ain­
tained
On the positive side, possibly the m ost effective of the m oves
in itiated so far to tackle com m u n al riots has been the creation
o f a Rapid A ction F o rce (R A F) w ithin the C entral Reserve P o ­
lice F o rce . The RAF is a crack force that is norm ally airlifted to
trou ble spots so that quick action can be initiated to contain an
exp losive situation. The RAF perform an ce till now appears to
this au th o r to have been satisfactory. However, until a serious
study o f its effectiveness is available, there can n ot be a m ean­
ingful public debate on its role.

Crime: Statistics and Fluctuations

Efforts to study crim e in term s of num bers began with the P o ­
lice C om m ission of 1 8 6 0 prescribing a set of form s, refined by
the Police C om m ission of 1 9 0 2 . In 1 9 5 3 , the cen tral govern ­
m en t introduced C rim e in India, an annual publication (so m e­
w h at sim ilar to the Uniform C rim e Report of the FBI in the U .S .)
w ith com prehensive statistics on all crim e reported to the p o­
lice in the tw enty-five states and seven union territories, and to
a few enforcem ent agencies in the central governm ent.
C rim e in India is now the responsibility of the National Crim e
R ecord s Bureau (N CR B) of the cen tral governm ent. The NCRB
depends solely on the goodwill of police forces in the states and
union territories for prom pt dissemination of information. The
296 TRANSFORMING INDIA

process, till recently manual, has been substantially com puterized.

C rim e is studied in term s of ‘crim e ra te ’, i.e ., offen ces per
1 0 0 .0 0 0 of the population. This facilitates com p arison across
the board w ith other countries such as the U .S.: for exam ple,
the overall crim e rate in India during 1 9 9 5 was 6 5 4 .3 , as against
the U .S .’s 5 2 7 7 .6 .
D uring 1 9 5 1 - 9 1 , the first four decades of India as a sover­
eign nation, the population w ent up by 1 3 5 .3 per cen t. C rim e
rose by 1 5 8 .2 per cen t and the crim e rate by 9 .8 per cen t. From
a total of about 6 5 0 ,0 0 0 offences under the Indian Penal Code
(IP C ) and a crim e rate of 1 7 9 .9 in 1 9 5 1 , one saw b oth escalat­
ing to 1 ,6 9 6 ,0 0 0 and 1 8 5 .1 respectively in 1 9 9 5 . F ro m nearly
5 0 .0 0 0 in 1 9 5 3 , violent crim e w ent up to 2 4 5 ,0 0 0 in 1 9 9 5 , an
alm ost 5 0 0 per cent rise. H om icides alone registered a 4 5 per
cen t increase during the decade 1 9 8 5 - 9 5 . Equally serious is the
fact that rapes— 1 3 ,7 5 4 in 1 9 9 5 — alm ost doubled during the
sam e p erio d .10

The Police Role in Government

The use of the police in free India has been frequent and extensive,
amidst complaints that the force is utterly lacking in political neu­
trality. The impression of a bias in its day-to-day operations has
unfortunately become stronger over the years, because the cam ­
paign to prom ote its non-partisan character has rem ained feeble.
Basically, the Indian police has been weighed down by the s cru ­
tiny and criticism of the three segm ents of the polity, namely,
the executive (both governm ent and p o litical), the legislature
and the judiciary. The situation is com pounded by the enor­
m ous pressure exerted on it by the citizen who exp ects the p o­
lice to be law abiding, and at the sam e tim e, effective in the
m aintenance of peace and d etection of crim e.

Relations with the E xecu tiv e— W e noted earlier th at in depen­

dent India has passed through several distinct phases. T he m ost
devastating was the 20-m o n th Em ergency from Ju n e 1 9 7 5 to
M arch 1 9 7 7 , during w hich period the police op erated w ithout
the usual political safeguards. Follow ing the defeat of Indira
Gandhi in the 1 9 7 7 elections, a new Jan ata governm ent— the
first n o n -C o n g re s s g o v e rn m e n t sin ce In d e p e n d e n c e — to o k
The Indian Police 297

office. Responding to public outrage over the E m erg en cy ’s e x ­

cesses, it established a N ational Police C om m ission (N P C ). Two
things are notew orth y about this C om m ission. Firstly, it was
th e first, and only, body to be appointed at the national level
since Independence, to propose police reform s; and secondly,
its recom m end ation s had still not been im plem ented w hen Mrs
Gandhi and the C ongress party returned to pow er in 1 9 8 0 .
The exhaustive analysis of the Indian police by the NPC is
extrem ely relevant here. The six-m em ber C om m ission, headed
by a retired Governor of Karnataka, Dharm a Vira, subm itted eight
rep orts betw een F eb ru ary 1 9 7 9 and M arch 1 9 8 1 .11 It is the
path-breaking second report (August 1 9 7 9 ) w hich is m ost ger­
m ane to this paper. The Com m ission addressed itself in this re­
p ort to the task of how to confer greater operational autonom y
on policemen in the field, without however diluting their account­
ability. In this con text, it quoted extensively from the Shah C om ­
m ission of Inquiry. This had enquired into the excesses alleged
to have been com m itted by the adm inistrative m achinery during
the Emergency. One excerp t from the Shah Com m ission’s Interim
Report II (2 6 April, 1 9 7 8 ) is vivid in its description of the scene:
Police officers behaved as though they are not accountable at all to
any public authority. The decisions to arrest and release certain per­
sons were entirely on political considerations. . . . The Government
must seriously consider the feasibility and desirability of insulating
the police from the politics of the country and employing it scrupu­
lously on duties for which alone it is by law in te n d e d .12
T h e N P C d e scrib e d th e e x is tin g re la tio n s h ip b etw een the
execu tiv e and the police thus: ‘The insisten ce on prom pt obe­
dience and execution of all orders lawfully issued by any com p e­
te n t a u th o rity u n d erlin es th e to tal su b m ission of p o lice to
executive authority’.13
The C om m ission thereafter proceeded to draft a new Police
A ct (to replace the 1 8 6 1 A ct) to articu late its definition of the
role of the police. This draft is yet to find governm ent a ccep ­
tance. Two recom m en d ation s made in this co n n ectio n — a fixed
tenure of four years for the police chief, and the con stitu tion of
a state secu rity com m ission headed by the state m inister in
charge of the police— also rem ain to be im plem ented.
In the opinion of m any police officers, past and present, most
of the odium that attach es to the Indian police over the years is
298 TRANSFORMING INDIA

due 10 the situation so graphically described by the N PC . T here

is a n o ticeab le differen ce b etw een th e e x e c u tiv e ’s p o litica l
exp ectatio n s, and the non-partisan responses of a law -abiding
and con scien tiou s policem an. The failure to insulate the police
from p olitics is unfortunate, because it places the force un der
trem en dous psychological pressure and m ilitates against o b je c­
tive and professional policing. G overnm ents hold a very differ­
ent opinion to justify the subordinate status they accord to the
police. In their estim ation, the police tend to take a very nar­
row and legalistic view of events, and therefore ignore the c o m ­
pulsions of a dem ocracy. Second, governm ents argue th at the
co n tro l exercised over the police ensures that they do not c o m ­
m it e x c e ss e s th at v iolate h u m an rig h ts , so s a c ro s a n c t in a
dem ocracy. Finally, it is the execu tiv e th at is the policy-m ak er
and th e rep resen tativ e of th e p eo p le, in w h om so v ereig n ty
resides. Only governm ents are com p eten t to dictate priorities
so that policing rem ains focused on com m u n ity needs.
Rival view points have their m erits. The N PC was quite alive
to this reality and also to the need to harm onize the police role
with dem ocratic aspirations. Obviously, it was this perception
that prom pted them to suggest the creation of a state security
com m ission. This was to be headed by the state minister in charge
of the police and consist of six other m em bers. The com m ission
would include two m embers of the state legislature, one from the
ruling party and the other from the Opposition. The com m ission
would lay down policy guidelines for the police, besides evaluat­
ing its perform ance for the benefit of the legislature. It would
also entertain representations by supervisory officers of the rank
of superintendent of police and above against ‘illegal or irregular
orders’ received by them while perform ing their duties.
The N PC recom m end ation on the state secu rity com m ission
has n o t yet been accep ted. Views on w hether such a co m m is­
sion w ould be effective are varied. There are those who believe
that the com m ission is no panacea to all of the police’s cu rren t
ills; oth ers feel that the proposal is hardly p ractical. In their
estim ation , the com m ission w ould only hinder the police force
fu rther in its d ay-to-day w ork. In m y view, the creation of such
a com m ission w ould be a step forw ard in rendering the police
m o re tra n s p a re n t and a c c o u n ta b le . W h ile it w ill giv e th e
execu tiv e a feeling of greater co n tro l over the police, it w ould
The Indian Police 29 9

at the same tim e assure the latter th at its p erform an ce will be

evaluated m ore objectively.

Relations with the L egisla tu re and L egislators— T here are two

facets to the relationship betw een the police and the legisla­
ture, one inside the p recin cts of the legislature, and the other
outside. F irst, the inside relationship. The presiding officers of
parliam ent in Delhi, and legislative assem blies/councils in the
states, are the suprem e authority w ithin their respective houses.
F o r the purpose of preserving order therein, they have their own
w atch and ward staff, independent of the governm ent. It is only
under extrem ely grave circum stances, rendering the latter inca­
pable of dealing with a situation, that the police are called in, un­
der the specific orders of the speaker/chairm an, as the case may
be. In free India, there have in fact been many such contingencies.
W h at we are here con cern ed w ith m ore intim ately is the o u t­
side relationship, the day-to-day in teraction betw een legisla­
tors and policem en in the field. The execu tiv e’s in stru ctions to
the police regarding the treatm ent of MPs and MLAs could not
be clearer than they are. They require the u tm ost courtesy in
receiving legislators at police stations and other police premises,
and a quick resp onse to representations on behalf of citizens.
W hile, generally speaking, senior officers take every care to be
polite and sensitive, it is at the police station that there are of­
ten problem s. In stances are legion of com plaints of disrespect
show n to M LAs/M Ps by low er police functionaries. The police
them selves ch arge th at un reason ab le, and som etim es e x tra -
legal, dem ands are m ade on them by legislators, dem ands that
lead to unseem ly and avoidable verbal duels. The countryw ide
police agitation in 1 9 7 9 was triggered by a trivial altercation
between a H aryana traffic policem an and a legislator. The rela­
tionship betw een the police and M LAs/M Ps is extrem ely deli­
cate, calling for great restrain t on both sides. In recen t years,
fortunately, an aggressive media and an active ju d iciary have
im proved this relationship.

Relations with the Ju d icia ry — A general distrust of the police

by the legal profession, and especially the judiciary, has ch arac­
terized India since the days of the Raj. W hile m any readers m ay
endorse this d istru st, it is im p o rtan t to u n d erstan d that the
300 TRANSFORMING INDIA

police believe they are unreasonably constrained. F o r exam p le,

the N ation al P o lice C om m issio n sh ared the d istre ss o f the
police th at, even three decades after Independence, th e force
was so distrusted. It was particularly concerned about the stipu­
lation of the Raj’s second police com m ission , the F ra se r C om ­
m ission of 1 9 0 2 - 3 that ‘the C onstable shall not be asso ciated
with any crim inal investigation ,’ and its faithful ca rry -o v e r to
the C rim inal Procedure Code (C rP C ) of 1 9 7 3 .M
The police feel that the cou rts also lack faith in th em . F o r
instance, the Indian Evidence A ct, w hich is an effective aid to
the trial co u rt, lays down (Sec. 2 5 ) that no confession m ade to
a police officer shall be adm issible in evidence. The excep tio n
(Sec. 2 7 ) is when such confession leads directly to the discovery
of a m aterial fact, such as the recovery of a m urder w eapon. Only
then does that part of the confession becom e admissible. T his is
a m ajor source of discontent for police officers at all levels.
The m ost im portant restrain t on police investigators, h o w ­
ever, is the constitutional m andate that no person arrested w ith ­
out a w arran t shall be held in police custody for longer th an
tw enty-four h ou rs, before w hich time he has to be p rod u ced
before a m agistrate. This tim e lim it has been found to be u n re a ­
sonable and im practical by m any experienced police profession­
als. The Suprem e C ou rt of India and several high cou rts have
im posed m any restrictio n s on the pow er of arrest v ested in
p o lice officers, and have p rescrib ed ce rta in g u id e lin e s. In
Joginder Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh (1 9 9 4 ) , the Supreme C ourt
stated that an arrest should not be m ade m erely because it was
lawful to do so. The officer con cern ed should actually be able
to justify su ch action. In C haran Das Chawla v. Com m issioner of
Police, Delhi ( 1 9 9 4 ) , the Delhi high co u rt dealt with the issue of
inform ation being dem anded by a m agistrate about a person
alleged to be held in illegal custody. It decreed th at the police
officer concerned m ust file an affidavit w ithin a day or two and
also produce the arrestee before that m agistrate. A refusal to
file such an affidavit would am ount to con tem p t of co u rt. A lso,
while the C rPC perm its exam ination of w itnesses during in ves­
tigation at the police station itself, no m ale below the age of
fifteen, or a w om an, can be sum m oned to a police station . S ec­
tion 1 6 0 of the C rP C is em phatic that these persons shall be
exam ined at their place of residence.
The Indian Police 301

It m ust be adm itted th at the reco rd of the p o lice in respect

of hum an righ ts leaves m u ch to be desired. Fortu n ately, the
ju d iciary in India has been acu tely sensitive to com plaints of
hum an righ ts violation s by the p olice. Su p erior co u rts have
found it n ecessary to m ake stern ob servation s w h enever these
com e to th eir n o tice and have also in itiated punitive action .
C ustodial deaths in p articu lar have invited th eir ire, leading
to crim inal p rosecu tion and the award of stiff sen ten ces to err­
ing p ersonn el. Significant here is the form ation in 1 9 9 3 of a
N ational H um an Rights C om m ission headed by a form er chief
ju stice of India. T he NHRC has been extrem ely p roactive and
has caused quite a lot of discom fiture to th ose in the police
ranks w ith low regard for hum an rights. The creation of a sim i­
lar body in som e states has also placed p olicem en in the field
under pressure.
Some ju d gem en ts, it m ust be adm itted, have helped free the
police from unw arranted governm ental interference. This se c­
tion on the ju d iciary would not be com plete w ithout referring
to a m om entous January 1 9 9 6 Supreme C ourt order. In this case,
Vineet N arain and Others v. The Union of India, the C ourt was
disposing of a petition w hich alleged that the C entral Bureau of
Investigation (C B I) and revenue authorities had failed to per­
form their duty to bring certain offenders to book, because the
latter w ere highly placed in society and w ere influential. The
C ourt exam ined cases in w hich an investigating agency filed a
final rep ort stating that there was no m aterial to proceed fur­
ther against an accu sed person, and the case had therefore to be
closed. The Supreme C ou rt stated that it had the right to satisfy
itself th at this con clu sion had been arrived at on reasonable
grou n d s.15 This was a landm ark p ron oun cem en t. It established
the C o u rt’s role in m onitoring an investigation and in ensuring
that it w as fair and fearless, w ithout being influenced by those
in authority who m ay have had a vested interest in shaping an
investigation on lines desired by them .
It is true that this is a significant developm ent that limits
police discretion, but it ensures that such discretion is not used
to favour offenders because of their high position in society In a
sense, the Supreme Court stand prom otes a m ajor objective of the
National Police Commission recom m endations, namely, the insu­
lation of the police from manipulation by the political machinery.
302 TRANSFORMING INDIA

A n oth er landm ark ruling of the Suprem e C ourt cam e in D e­

cem ber 1 9 9 7 . This aim ed at substantially freeing the prem ier
investigating agency of the country, the C entral Bureau of In ­
vestigation, from the control of the executive. The C ou rt stated
th at the CB1 did not have to seek the prior perm ission of the
governm ent in launching investigations against senior civil ser­
vants. It thus reversed w hat was know n as a ‘single directive’ of
th e g o v e r n m e n t w h ic h re q u ire d th e CBI to o b ta in th e
governm ent’s prior con cu rren ce in the m atter. Fu rth er, the su ­
perintendence of the CBI’s w ork w ould be vested in a central
vigilance com m ission, to be given Statutory status. The C ou rt
also laid down a new procedure for the appointm ent of the di­
re cto r of the CBI. The C o u rt’s p ron ou n cem en ts on the CBI
evoked m ixed reaction s, and a nationw ide debate has ensued.
(A cen tral vigilance com m issioner and a d irector of the CBI
appointed through the procedure contem plated by the Supreme
C ou rt are now in position, and a cen tral governm ent law regu ­
larizing this m ay be adopted in parliam ent very soon .)

Relations with the Public— As long ago as 1 9 6 9 , after a detailed

study of the Indian police that in corp orated an extensive pub­
lic opinion survey, David Bayley w rote:
The survey results demonstrate forcefully what many close observers
of police-public relations in India have long thought, namely, that
the Indian public is deeply suspicious of the activities of the police. A
considerable proportion expect the police to be rude, brutal, corrupt,
som etim es in collusion with crim inals, and very frequently dealing
unevenly with their clien ts.16
Opinion surveys on behalf of the N PC, conducted nearly a de­
cade later, did not show any great change in public perception.
In its Fifth Report (N ovem ber 1 9 8 0 ), the Com m ission expressed
its anguish over the poor state of p olice: public relatio n s.17 It
believed that the Fraser Com m ission’s observation in 1 9 0 2 that
people ‘do all they can to avoid any connection with the police
investigation’ held true even after a lapse of nearly 8 0 years, and
it w ent on to say: ‘People now may n o t dread the police, but
they certainly dread getting involved w ith it in any capacity.’18
Media reports of the recent past do not show policing in a better
light. The com m on man is visibly exercised over their obvious
lack of courtesy towards citizens during day-to-day interactions.
The Indian Police 303

Failure to register com plaints, im polite responses to requests for

help in dealing with bullies, and blatant favouritism towards the
m ore affluent of two contending parties, even if that party hap­
pens to be the aggressor, are com m on com plaints against the
police.
Perhaps the m ost serious allegation, described briefly in the
previous section , is the tendency of investigating officers to use
physical force, or w hat is com m only referred to as the ‘third
degree’, in dealing w ith crim e suspects. The charge gains c re ­
den ce from the frequent deaths in police custody, an average of
7 0 to 8 0 being reported annually. Both the central and state gov­
ernm ents are highly sensitive on this issue and have conveyed
several in stru ction s to curb police m iscondu ct. The m ost strik ­
ing aspect of public perception relates to the quality of crim e
investigation. The average citizen strongly believes that p o lice­
m en indulge in corru p t p ractices at every stage, beginning w ith
the registration of a com plaint. The 1 9 0 2 F ra se r C om m ission
said: ‘The com plainant has often to pay a fee for having his co m ­
plaint record ed. M ore m oney is exto rted as the investigation
proceeds. W h en the officer goes dow n to the spot he is a bur­
den often to the whole village.’19 Lam enting this, the NPC (1 9 7 7 )
observed in its Third Report, ‘W h at the Police Com m ission said
in 1 9 0 3 would m ore or less fully apply even to the present situ a­
tion. If anything, the position has w orsened.’20 The Com m ission
identified several areas and stages of investigation— registration
of a com plaint; arrest/n on -arrest and release/non-release of the
accu sed on bail; and reco rd in g of w itn esses’ statem en ts— as
vitiated by co rru p tio n . It recom m ended ‘a system of surprise
checks and insp ection s and effective supervision by honest and
well m otivated officers at the different levels of com m and within
the hierarchy itself’.21
Com plaints voiced through the media, cou rt pronouncem ents
at all levels, and periodic reviews of vigilance agencies in state
and central governm ents reinforce the im pression that there has
been no perceptible change in the integrity of police investigators.
This is despite the fact that criminal investigation, notw ithstand­
ing the excessive attention to public order m atters, gets high pri­
ority in the police training curriculum . The recruit, at all three
levels, constable, sub-inspector and assistant/deputy superinten­
dent, is substantially exposed to the fundamentals of crim e work.
304 TRANSFORMING INDIA

O nce he or she is assigned to the field, the focus gets distorted,

and it acquires an obsession with the m aintenance of law and or­
der, as distinct from crim e prevention and detection.22 This is be­
cause of the high political stakes involved for the governm ent.
The m ovem ent in favour of com m unity policing in m any parts
of the w orld, especially in the U .S., has not acquired any great
m om entum in India. Here and there on e sees individual offic­
ers w ith som e im agination and dynam ism m aking som e strides,
and the N PC acknow ledged th at som e efforts had been m ade to
im prove the situation in the form of crim e prevention w eeks,
settin g up of boys’ clubs, etc. But these are sporadic. F o r in ­
stance, according to the Com m ission, no crim e prevention w eek
has been held since 1 9 7 1 . The C om m ission suggested that the
police should not m erely highlight the responsibilities of the
public, but should go beyond, to focus attention on their ow n
difficulties and how citizens can help to m itigate them . In this
c o n te x t, it referred to a m ajority response to one of the ques­
tions in its questionnaire, w hich favoured the m ore liberal ap­
pointm en t of special officers (p erm itted by Sec. 17 of the P o ­
lice A ct, 1 8 6 1 ) from the com m u nity so as to aid the police in
especially difficult law and order situations. It endorsed the sug­
gestion that this arrangem ent be an ongoing process, rather than
one invoked on special occasion s.

Expectations of the Public

The Indian scene is m arked by acute public dissatisfaction w ith
the quality of police service. This is m ost evident in the urban
cen tres w here violent crim e is on the rise and clearan ce rates
have been dism al. As everyw here else in the w orld, the public
e x p e c ts safer streets and sw ifter resp o n se to distress calls.
G reater police visibility is an oth er dem and in towns rocked by
v io le n t in cid e n ts. T h e p o p u la r c o m p la in t is th a t p re c io u s
p o lice m anpow er is diverted to take care of dignitary p ro te c­
tion (popularly know n as ‘VIP secu rity’) at the co st of basic
police services to the com m unity.
A nother com m on com plaint is the hostile reception accorded
to the public in police stations when they go to report a crim e.
The widespread feeling is th at they are unw elcom e and th at a
com plaint will receive atten tion only after paym ent of a bribe.
The Indian Police 305

The public dem ands a sea-change in the police station environ­

m ent that will ensure greater friendliness and sensitivity. Less
deliberate suppression of com plaints of crim e and decisive a c­
tion against an ti-social elem ents, even if it m eans the police
breaching the law, characterize popular expectations of the force.

Expectations of the Police

The Indian p olice, especially those at the police-station level,
articulate m any grievances. These relate to a p o or pay stru c­
ture, long h ou rs of w ork, an unhygienic w ork environm ent and
unsatisfactory living cond itions, in term s of low quality gov­
ernm ent housing and m edical care. But w hat police constables
are m ost b itter about is the lack of hum ane treatm ent by their
supervisors. The situation has no doubt been changing for the
better, thanks to a vigilant media that does not fail to pick up
stories on this issue. But there rem ains a basic feeling of lack of
consid eration for the sensitivities of subordinate policem en.
R ecent ju d icial activism has had an im pact, both positive and
negative, on police investigators. The w illingness of cou rts to
uphold police processes, such as the arrest of top politicians
and civil serv an ts, and searching and freezing the ill-gotten
w ealth of public servants, has been extrem ely w elcom e. Never­
theless, the close ju dicial scrutiny of investigation is of con cern
to the p olice. D irectives im pinging on police discretion with
regard to arrests, and the dropping of further action at the end
of investigation w hen no evidence is forthcom ing, also cause a
ripple in police circles. The standards of ob jectivity w hich the
ju d iciary exp ects of the police, even in cases w here m em bers of
a governm ent m ay be adversely involved, em barrass the police
greatly. Viewed in this light, the police feel th at the judiciary
does n o t ap p reciate the hard realities of the field situation.

Recent Developments
India’s polity is at a crossroads. The striden t dem and for greater
probity in public life, the proactive stance of the judiciary which
has show n itself to be quite independent, and the investigative
reporting of the m edia that has w hetted public appetite, are all
distinct features of the cu rren t Indian scene. These are going to
306 TRANSFORMING INDIA

place the w hole polity, including service agencies such as the

police, under public scrutiny and a consequent pressure to be
transparent.
The specific dem and on the police will, increasingly, be one
of strict political neutrality and fearless investigation, even when
big public figures are involved. The pressure is felt particularly
by anti-corruption agencies at the Centre and in the states. A former
prime minister, and a serving and few former state chief ministers
have recently been arraigned by the CBI/state anti-corruption bu­
reaus. This points to new courage am ong police investigators
and sets the trend for the future. On a Public Interest Litigation
(P IL ) filed by a form er d ire cto r-g e n e ra l of p o lice of U tta r
Pradesh, the Suprem e C ou rt of India issued a directive in 1 9 9 8
to the union hom e m inistry in Delhi to report on action taken to
reform the police structure on the basis of the recom m endations
of the 1 9 7 7 National Police Com m ission. This was another sig­
nificant development in the effort to m ake the police m ore pro­
fessional and less partisan. As a sequel, the hom e m inistry ap­
p oin ted a co m m itte e headed by fo rm er Punjab DGP, Ju lio
Ribeiro, to go into the N PC recom m endations and report on
what needed to be done. The com m ittee has since subm itted its
report, w hich the m inistry has placed before the Supreme Court.
F u rth er directions of the C ou rt are aw aited. It is against this
backdrop that the Indian police will have to contend with prob­
lems described in the succeed ing paragraphs.

Coalition G overnm ents— Trends at the federal governm ent level

and in som e states point to coalition governm ents becom ing
m ore and m ore com m on. This has its own im plications for the
bureaucracy, especially the police, w hich had becom e a ccu s­
tom ed to the unified rule of a single party. A part from bickering
between coalition partners as to who should control the police,
there are bound to be conflicting directions to the police hier­
archy on how to handle a particular situation. The U ttar Pradesh
(U.P.) experim ent ( 1 9 9 6 - 7 ) of a change in the chief ministership
once in six m onths between the two coalition partners, was at
the tim e a uniquely interesting exp erim ent, but this type of ar­
rangem ent could be repeated. It could also raise new issues of
adm inistrative propriety, causing further confusion and dem or­
alization within the police force. It m ay take several decades
The Indian Police 307

before coalition politics establishes salutary p ractices that per­

m it the police to be clear about their role in such an environ­
m ent. U ntil then, the forces will m uddle along, hopefully w ith ­
out disastrous consequences for the com munity.

C rim inalization o f Politics— There is strong evidence available

in many parts of the country of the growing nexus between som e
political parties and individuals w ith proven crim inal records.
This is no new phenom enon, but the relationship has com e out
into the open during the past few decades, with m uscle pow er
and m oney beginning to determ ine the ou tcom e of elections,
especially those fought in villages.23 Two frequent crim es co m ­
m itted by thugs on the eve of elections, at the instigation of
som e political elem ents, are m urder and kidnapping. It is widely
know n that on the day of polling, the coercion of citizens to
vote for a particular party, or to stay away from the polling booth,
is a tactic for w hich political parties use anti-social elem ents. It
was against this background that in Ju ly 1 9 9 3 the cen tral gov­
ernm ent appointed a com m ittee headed by N.N. Vohra, form er
hom e secretary, to exp lore the grow in g p o liticia n -c rim in a l
nexu s. The C om m ittee’s 1 9 9 3 report was placed before parlia­
m ent on 1 August 1 9 9 5 . The report concluded:
It is apparent that crime syndicates and mafia organizations have estab­
lished themselves in various parts of the country [and] have devel­
oped significant muscle and money power and established linkages
with governmental functionaries, political leaders and others to be
able to operate with impunity.24
The report referred to the observation of the Intelligence B u­
reau (IB) d irecto r that ‘w arning signals of sinister linkages be­
tw een the underw orld, politicians and b u reau cracy have been
evident w ith disturbing regularity’.25 The director was reported
to have added that crim inal gangs in certain states like Bihar,
H aryana and U.P. enjoyed the patronage of local politicians and
the p rotection of governm ent functionaries. The dependence
of politicians on crim e syndicates for financial support to fight
elections enhanced the latter’s clou t in dealing with the official
m achinery. As a sequel to the Vohra R eport, a nodal agency was
set up in the central governm ent for exchange of inform ation
am ong central agencies for effective follow-up a c tio n .26 It is not
yet known how effective this agency has been.
308 TRANSFORMING INDIA

Unless there is a strong political will here, the police will not
be able to stem the rot. The reported decision of the C entral
E lectio n C om m ission to bar persons w ith a record of co n v ic­
tion in a crim inal case from con testin g elections should help to
keep out a few really bad elem ents. Beyond this, with the high
degree of proof required by cou rts, one can n o t be sanguine that
the Election Com m ission’s m ove will bring about any great trans­
form ation of the scene.

Ju d icia l A ctivism — The question u p p erm o st in the m inds of

m any enlightened citizens, including police officers, is w hether
the ju d iciary will be able to sustain its present m om entu m for
long. This m isgiving is traceable to an apprehension that vested
p olitical interests, affected by m any recen t ju dicial decisions,
will som ehow align themselves to scu ttle future processes. W hile
the fear seem s a little exaggerated, it undoubtedly succeed s in
throw ing up u n certainty before the police, in its cap acity for
professional action in sensitive investigations. This is an un­
happy situ ation , n ot likely to be resolved unless ju d icial inde­
pendence rem ains unhindered for a t least a few years to com e.
T he police desire for autonom y will stand or dissipate, depend­
ing on the future strength of the judiciary.

B ro a d er R ecruitm ent— The new schem e of quotas for admission

into professional colleges and for entry into the civil service, fol­
lowing the im plem entation of the M andal Com m ission recom ­
m endations, should see the induction of m ore rural youth from
relatively underprivileged section s of so cie ty in to the Indian
Police Service. W hile this is true of the Indian Adm inistrative
Service and other higher civil services as well, it has particular
im port for the police. At least in theory, it should lead to greater
police sensitivity to the problem s of the low er strata. This is
im portant in the con text of galling tales of police apathy to the
poor, vis-a-vis the privileged treatm ent of the m oneyed class who
can often ‘buy’ police attention. This author will not go so far as
to agree with many of his cynical colleagues, who are positive
that it is still the better- placed individual who will continue to
be privileged in the police station co n text. I look upon this as a
possible area for future research: will the new class com position
of the IPS alter police attitudes towards the rural poor?
The Indian Police 309

C en tre-S ta te Relations— N otw ithstanding the strong sentim ents

h eard freq u en tly in favou r o f g re a te r au to n o m y for s ta te s
vis-à-vis the central governm ent, it is likely that collaboration
betw een state and central forces will expand rath er than dim in­
ish. Even states that are traditionally relu ctan t to be a p art of
the national m ainstream , acknow ledge the indebtedness of their
p olice to the hom e m inistry of the central governm ent in Delhi.
The C entral Reserve Police F o rc e will rem ain the m ainstay
for states to tackle m ajor th reats to peace. The con tin u ou s e x ­
pansion of the C R PF is a direct recognition of the faith placed
in it by the states. R ecru itm ent to the CR PF m ay therefore have
to be m ore broadbased, in response to various regional pulls, so
as to bring about its greater acceptability. One issue that m ay be
raised in the future is: how far is dependence on a central force
exp ed ien t for a state govern m en t, especially when the latter is
controlled by a political party th at is opposed to the ruling party
at the C entre? A noth er that requires atten tion is the im pact of
excessive reliance on the CRPF, on the quality of state arm ed
police battalions, and especially on their state of training and
preparedness.

Conclusions
The w idespread im pression, nationally, is that the Indian police
force is excessively law and ord er oriented and that it has done
p reciou s little to reverse the rising trend of crim e. This is b u t­
tressed by daily media reports on police activity in different parts
of the cou n try and the con tin u al expansion of para-m ilitary
forces. W h ile this im pression can be faulted for being sw eep­
ing— one that ignores the fact th at a spurt in crim e, especially
of the violent variety, is not p eculiar to India— w hat is inescap­
able is the feeling that police perform ance is invariably evaluated
by the governm ent m ainly in term s of handling protest dem on­
strations in public, and quelling riots. This is a legacy carried
over from pre-Independence days, m arked by large-scale politi­
cal agitations that aimed at disrupting adm inistrative processes.
C ritics of the police believe th at this continued obsession w ith
law and order, even fifty years after Independence, is u n fo rtu ­
nate because it is oblivious to the new functions im posed on
the p olice by an evolving society. Vocal sections of the p opu la­
310 TRANSFORMING INDIA

tion su ch as Scheduled Castes and Tribes and w om en e x p ect

greater police sensitivity to their grievances and new in n ova­
tions w h ich will give them a feeling of secu rity in w h at is c o n ­
sidered a sharply fractured society.
In essen ce, the com m unity exp ects the police to be m ore p ro­
active th an reactive as they have always been know n to be. In
real term s, the desire is for a m ore consu m er-orien ted police
that assigns a higher priority to service functions th an to m ain­
tenance of the status quo. In this con n ection , atten tio n is drawn
to the activism displayed by the ju d iciary in the re ce n t past.
This is attrib uted to the ju d iciary ’s perception of a changing
society and the need to adapt itself to m odern requirem ents.
The in novation of PIL whereby any m em ber of the pu blic can
seek sw ift ju d icial in tervention in cases of gross in ju stice or
adm inistrative im propriety, and the ju d iciary’s visible con cern
over m atters of environm ental p rotection are cited as the latter’s
willingness to assum e a new role. The discerning critic asks why
the police can n ot sim ilarly get rid of its colonial baggage and
becom e service-orien ted , especially when such activism does
n ot require C onstitution al am endm ents, a task that is circu m ­
scribed by elaborate procedure. Here, the accu sation is that the
police leadership, p articu larly the IPS variety, has been smug
and con servative.
N otw ithstanding this failure to be proactive, the p olice role
in holding the nation together against the onslaught o f centrifu­
gal forces can n o t be exaggerated. The resources placed at its
disposal for discharging its duties are no doubt exp an d in g; the
positive interest evinced in this area by the central governm ent
to b olster state police forces is com m endable. It is a m o o t point,
how ever, w hether police resources are adequate. T here are ad­
ditional con strain ts in the form of the execu tive’s u n concealed
anxiety to keep the police under its strict co n tro l, thereby de­
nying the latter the degree of operational freedom th a t it re­
quires to prove itself effective. The distrust of the ju d icia ry for
police proced u res, especially in m atters of crim e in vestigation,
w eighs heavily on the police, and leads to m orale problem s.
Police personnel m anagem ent therefore, is going to be in creas­
ingly im p ortan t in the days to com e; in this, m ore th an w ith the
ju d iciary and the execu tive, it will be the police leadership, rep­
resen ted by IPS officers, that will be severely tested.
The Indian Police 311

Notes
1 R.K. Raghavan, ‘Fifty Years of Policing’, T he Hindu, 27 August 1997.
1 For studies of the Indian police in the post-Independence period, see
David H. Bayley, T he P olice and Political D evelopment in India (Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press), 1969; S.K. Ghosh and K.F. Rustamji
(eds), E ncyclopaedia o f Police in India, v o l.l (New Delhi: Ashis Publishing
House), 1993; and R.K. Raghavan, Indian P olice: Problems, Planning and
Perspectives (New Delhi: M anohar), 1989 and Policing a D em ocracy: The
C ase o f India and the U.S. (New Delhi: M anohar), 1999. For additional
research focusing on women in Indian police, see Shamim Aleem, Women
in Indian P olice (New Delhi: Sterling), 1991; S.K. G hosh, Women in
Policing (New Delhi: Light and Life Publishers), 1981; and M. Natarajan,
‘Women Police Units in India’, Police Studies, vol. 19, no. 2 (1 9 9 6 ).
3 F or reports on police in the pre-Independence period, see J.C . Curry,
T he Indian P olice (London: Faber and Faber), 1932; K.S. D hillon, De­
fen d ers o f the Establishm ent: Ruler-Supportive P olice Forces o f South Asia
(Shim la: Indian Institute of Advanced Study), 1998. S.M . Edwardes,
C rim e in B ritish In dia (Reprint of 1924 edition) (New Delhi: ABC Pub­
lishing House), 1983; P.G. Griffiths, To G uard My P eople: The H istory
o f the Indian P olice (London: Ernest B enn), 1971; A. Gupta, C rim e and
P olice in India, up to 1861 (Agra: Sahitya Bhaw an), 1974 and T he P olice
in British India, 1 8 6 1 -1 9 4 7 (New Delhi: Concept Publishing), 1979, c.
1978; and S.D. Trivedi ‘The Origin and Development of Police Organi­
z a tio n in A n cie n t In d ia’ in S.K . G hosh and K.F. R u stam ji (ed s)
E n cy clo p aed ia o f P o lice in In dia, v o l.l, op. cit. For Studies exam ining
the police during the transition from the British Raj to Independence,
see Inspector G eneral of Madras, The H istory o f M adras P olice, (1 9 5 9 );
S.K. Jh a , Raj to S w a r a j: C h an g in g C on tou rs o f P o lic e (N ew D elhi:
Lancer), 1995; and B.P. Saha, Indian Policy: L egacy and Quest f o r For­
mative R ole (D elhi: K onark), 1990.
4 G overnm ent o f India, C rim e in In dia 1996 (New Delhi: National Crime
Records Bureau, G overnm ent of India), 1998; and IPS Central Asso­
ciatio n , ‘M em orandum to the Fifth C entral Pay C om m ission’ (New
D elhi), 1994.
5 Governm ent o f India, C rim e in India 1996, op.cit.
6 Additional research on the police and counter-terrorism can be found
in Ved Marwah, U ncivil Wars: P athology o f Terrorism in India (New
Delhi: Harper C ollins), 1995; and Vijay Karan, War by S tealth: Terror­
ism in India (New D elhi: V iking), 1997.
7 G overnm ent of G ujarat, Commission o f Inquiry on C om m unal Distur­
ban ces at A hm edabad and at Various Places in the State o f G u jarat on and
a fte r 18th Septem ber 1969. Chairman: Jaganm ohan Reddy (Ahmedabad:
Home D epartm ent, Governm ent of G ujarat), 1971.
312 TRANSFORMING INDIA

8 PR. Rajgopal, C om m unal V iolence in India (New Delhi: U ppal), 1987a.

9 See Jitendra Narayan, Com m unal Riots in India: A C ase Study o j an In­
dian State (New Delhi: A shish Publishing), 1992 and PR. Rajgopal,
Com munal Violence in In dia, op. cit.
10 For additional inform ation on crim e statistics, see S. Venugopala Rao,
D ynam ics o f Crim e: S patial and S ocio-econ om ic Aspects o f C rim e in In­
dia (New Delhi: Indian Institute of Public A dm inistration), 1981 and
G.P Jo sh i and J.C . Arora, C rim e in India: A Trend A nalysis, 1 9 5 1 -9 1
(New Delhi: Bureau of Police Research and D evelopm ent), 19 9 4 .
11 Governm ent of India, Reports o f the N ation al P olice C om m ission, vols. I
to V III, (Delhi: C ontroller of Publications), 1 9 7 9 -8 1 .
,2 Shah Commission, Interim R eport, Shah C om m ission o f Inquiry (D elhi:
Controller of Publications), 1978.
13 Government of India, R eport o f the N ational P olice C om m ission (S ec­
ond) (Delhi: C ontroller o f Publications), 1979, p. 11.
14 Governm ent of India, R eport o f the Indian P o lice C om m ission, 1902.
The Andrew H.L. Fraser Report (New Delhi: Governm ent of India).
15 Known as the Ja in diary, or the H aw ala case, this docum ent recorded
alleged money laundering by a private businessm an, and payment of
bribes by him to public officials, both political leaders and civil ser­
vants. Several im portant personalities were indicted, and the Supreme
Court has closely m onitored the investigation of the case.
16 David H. Bayley, The P olice and P olitical D evelopm ent in India, op. cit.,
p. 203.
17 Governm ent of India, R eport o f the N ation al P olice C om m ission (Fifth),
op. cit., p. 48.
18 Governm ent of India, Report o f the Indian P olice C om m ission 1902, op.
cit.
19 Ibid., p. 16.
20 Government of India, R eport o f the N ation al P olice C om m ission (Third),
(Delhi: Controller of Publications), 1980, p. 25.
21 Ibid., p. 26.
22 The Indian Police, at the cutting-edge level, is principally divided into
three wings: ‘law and order’, ‘crim e’ and ‘traffic’. ‘Law and order’ is
analogous to the patrol bureau found in U.S. police departm ents. This
wing handles all disorders in public places, including m inor and ma­
jo r riots. W hile the crim e wing no doubt investigates offences flowing
from such disorders, its prim ary preoccupation is with offences against
property such as theft, burglary, and robbery. In the Indian environ­
m ent, these two aspects of police routine are viewed very m uch in
isolation from each other, and there is not much of an appreciation of
the fact that effective patrolling by the law and order wing could pre­
vent crim e, both against hum an body and property.
The Indian Police 313

For additional inform ation on police training, defence of law and

order and relations with the public, see Indian Institute of Public O pin­
ion, Study on P olice Im age (New Delhi: M inistry of Home Affairs, Gov­
ernm ent of India), 1979; K.M. Mathur, ‘Policing for Internal Security’,
A dm inistrative Change, vol.. 19, nos. 1 -2 , Ju n e 1992; Kuldeep Mathur,
‘The State and Use of Coercive Power in India’, Asian Survey, vol. 32
no. 4, April 1 9 9 2 ; S. M isra, P o lic e B ru tality : An A n alysis o f P o lice
Behaviour (New Delhi: V ikas), 1986; Government of India, Report o f
the C om m ittee on P olice Training (New Delhi: Governm ent of India),
1973; PR. Rajgopal, S ocial C han ge and V iolence: The Indian E xperien ce
(New Delhi: Uppal), 1987b ; N.S. Saksena, Law and O rder in India (New
Delhi: Abhinav), 1987; and P.D. Sharma, Police and P olitical O rder in
India (Delhi: R esearch), 1984.
21 R.K. Raghavan, Policing a D em ocracy: The C ase o f India and the U.S.,
op. cit.
24 Vohra Com m itte R eport, M inistry of Home Affairs, G overnm ent of
India, New D elhi, 1993.
25 Ibid.
26 The Hindu, 2 August 1995.