The Hindu : Erring policemen and lighter penalty

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 08, 2003

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Erring policemen and lighter penalty

By Prashant Pandey

EVERY TIME a policeman is found guilty of some impropriety, action is taken against him one way or the other. But the "action'' does not always prove to be a strong enough deterrent. While there is need for tightening the loose ends in the enforcement mechanism, it seems there is also a lack of objectivity in enforcing propriety.

This year, over two dozen Delhi police personnel have been suspended, arrested or sent to the lines for one reason or the other. The allegations in the cases range from extortion, implicating somebody and improper upkeep of records to not saluting the Delhi Commissioner and letting men in custody escape.

Allegations of taking bribe for not arresting a person in a case, allowing somebody to carry on with illegal practice or demanding bribe to bail out an arrested person are also becoming fairly common.

Human rights violations in custody or even on the streets, not registering cases under proper sections of law form another set of allegations.

A Departmental Enquiry or a vigilance inquiry is initiated in all such cases, barring those in which a criminal case is already registered against the accused. The logic being that one man cannot be tried at two places for the same offence. However, even after acquittal in the criminal case, the enforcement wing can still initiate a DE if it feels that the action was serious enough. This happens rarely.

After the charges come up for hearing, the defendant has a fortnight to present his case. Here, the delay starts. The DE officials have to put up with it as the accused has to be given adequate chance to defend himself. After the first defence statement by the accused, the inquiry is further delayed on account of perusal of one document or the other, absence of witnesses and other such factors.

In the meantime, since the accused is neither proved guilty nor his case quashed, the enforcement has little choice but to bring him back to work. While in most cases, they are kept away from sensitive assignments, officials admit there are exceptions - personnel getting plum posts despite inquiry being on. Factors like contacts and equations with the powers-that-be are major contributors to such "exceptions''. The officers also have the discretionary power to do away with a procedure if it delays the inquiry. But, it is seldom taken recourse to.

Transferring the accused to non-sensitive postings is actually considered equivalent to suspension in so far as inquiry is concerned. "Transfer to such places ensures that the accused is not in a position to influence the witnesses and documents related to his inquiry,'' explained an officer. The problem, however, is that they return to good postings in course of time without necessarily being cleared.

Even as the inquiry takes its time to complete, the follow up action may not be in accordance with the offence. In a recent case, the SHO and two SIs were found to have been involved in framing a person. However, despite a vigilance inquiry recommending action against the three, they were allegedly let off.

Police officials maintained that initiation of the inquiry in itself affects the careers of the accused in terms of further promotions. Nevertheless, quite akin to other criminal cases, inquiries seem to linger on while the accused "move about'' freely.

With the institutions responsible for intra-force discipline not strong, objectivity in enforcing discipline seems to go haywire. An officer or a personnel may be moved against for a lesser reason, while others might just escape notice despite committing bigger mistakes. It all seems to boil down to earning the wrath of a top police official on a surprise visit.

It is this ad hoc manner that needs to be curtailed if the Delhi police want to send a message that they mean business when it comes to enforcing discipline in the force.

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