corruption within police

though It is very hard to prevent crime without proper cooperation from citizen there is very little accountability of Police to the citizen with regard to satisfactory delivery of services!

Police corruption is defined as the “abuse of police authority for personal or organizational gain by a police officer acting officially” ¹.

An FIR is a very important document as it sets the process of criminal justice in motion. It is only after the FIR is registered in the police station that the police take up investigation of the case. Unfortunately, this leaves the SHOs in a dominant position of determining when and which criminal incident to register and which one to ignore. As a result citizen is forced to bribe or exert influence to register an FIR.

Corruption within Indian police organization is not new phenomenon. Folklore has always associated Indian police with extortion and brutality. In fact the Indian police are infamous for corruption, ineptitude, use of torture, nepotism. In addition to this sycophancy is newly developing fashion within police agency. Indians perceive the police as a dreadful agency that often fails to do its job within the legal framework and yet enjoys impunity.

One of the main causes for this is that the police officials have ceased to act as professionals and are politicized to a great extent. They are manipulated by political leaders, who have misused the power of appointments and transfers to patronize weak or corrupt officers for their own selfish purposes at the cost of public interest. These leaders appoint wrong persons for the top jobs as they are willing to carry out the dictates and wishes of their political masters for their own survival. The main areas for their interference are appointments, transfers, rewards, and punishments. General police corruption includes bribery or exchange of money or something of value between the police and the wrong doer. Other police crimes may range from brutality, fake encounters, sexual harassment, custodial crimes, to illicit use of weapons.

Despite an attempt to eliminate corruption by ways like increased salaries, upgraded training, incentive for education, and developing policies that focus directly on factors leading to corruption, it still exists.

Even though the government spends over 67% of the Home Ministry’s budget on the police, there has been no noticeable improvement in the behavioral and attitudinal pattern of police personnel. Apart from allocating 67% of the budget on police, Rs 800 crores are being spent on modernization of the police forces of states for last three years ². Yet there is no improvement in the conduct of the police personnel of all ranks.

Police Corruption is also violation of human rights as it denies some very basic rights to the citizens. The fundamental right of being protected by a law enforcing agency, mainly constituted for this purpose is being denied by the prevailing corruption. The right to self-defense is under a threat with more and more cases of custodial crimes and wrongful persecution and prosecution being reported. With the present day situation worsening, the basic Right to life granted under Article 21 of the Constitution is being denied. Cases of fake encounters, rising death toll in the prisons, and unnecessary delay in investigation makes one feel insecure and vulnerable.

The Police Act of 1861 has remained unchanged over 145 years and it is the testament to the unreformed nature of the Indian Police force. Over the years the powerful institutions of law and order have been bent to conform to executive’s will and convenience. The task of improving the existing situation cannot be left to the police department alone. Political authorities and the Union Home Ministry have to step in for stopping the situation from deteriorating further and also for its betterment.

In today’s scenario, there is very little accountability of Police to the citizen with regard to satisfactory delivery of services e.g. if a Police officer refuses to register a complaint. Unlike in other services like electricity or telecom, where if a citizen is not satisfied with the complaint redressed by the department, it has the option of going to the independent regulator, there exists no such mechanism in case of Police.

In today’s situation there is more urgent need to address basic issues like improving the working conditions of the police persons, inhumanly long working hours, the inadequate police-population ratio, a pay structure which is not proportional to the work allocated and, the disproportionately low budget for meeting the day to day expenses. All these are some major factors which are responsible for contributing to the image of the Police Force as insensitive and a corrupt organisation.

As long as a majority of citizens are willing to go along with corrupt police officers, mainly for the reason to obtain favours, there is no way in which corruption can be curbed . For making the picture cleaner and corruption free for the future generation, it is necessary to put in efforts now.

1 as defined by International Encyclopaedia of Justice Studies (IEJS); 2 the Times of India, May 2, 2005;

veracity can be afflicted; not be vanquished!

madanbhai nayak,

Writer and an editor- thane pratibimb (news agency)

(though I AM A LITTLE LEGAL FIGHTER WITH WARIOR'S SPIRIT I am still a student of law here and still learning the art of Court craft........ I NEVER QUITE EVEN IF GREAT FAILURE GLARES AT ME BECAUSE PETTY DEFEAT TO ME CAN BE A DETOUR AND NOT A DEAD END. I LIKE TO INITIATE DEBATE AND DIALOGUES ON IMPORTANT PUBLIC ISSUES, DISSEMINATE RESEARCH FINDINGS TO CONTRIBUTE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIETY AND THUS HELP IN BETTER. MY FOCUS IS NOT ON INVESTIGATING INDIVIDUAL CASES OF CORRUPTION AND MALPRACTICE BUT ON BUILDING HOLISTIC SYSTEM TO COMBAT CORRUPTION. at present I have PLANNED TO SET UP A NON GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION OF CONCERNED CITIZENS, social workers and advocates DEDICATED TO MAXIMIZE ACCOUNTABILITY, RESPONSIVENESS AND TRANSPARENCY OF GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS, ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES AND GOVERNMENT MACHINERIES TOWARDS GENERAL POPULACE.)

Please note: The opinions / comments expressed here by me are my personal opinions and should not be construed as Legal statement. Any action taken by any person, on the basis of the opinion/ comments expressed by me will not constitute a ground for proceeding against me in any Legal Forum.