Tamil Nadu   

Is police autonomy feasible?

K.T. Sangameswaran

The Supreme Court order is not "panacea" for all the ills

CHENNAI: With nearly a month left for implementing the Supreme Court's directive on police administration, police officers point out that while the directive is a step towards improving the functioning of the police, the question is whether complete autonomy is feasible for the State police in a federal democratic set-up.

Another apprehension is whether implementing some recommendations alone will improve the operational efficiency of the police or enhance its public image. As an Additional Director-General of Police puts it: "The court order is not a panacea for all the ills".

The Supreme Court has directed the Centre and the States to comply with its directive by December 31. Like other States, Tamil Nadu is left with the option of implementing the directive or seek legal remedy, a few serving police officers say. The Tamil Nadu Government is examining the directive.

Amid the opinion that the opportunity to usher in reforms should not be lost, some thorny issues relating to police autonomy, fixed tenure for the chief of the force and a State Security Commission (SSC) to serve as a watchdog and for selecting and appointing officers need to be thrashed out, it is pointed out.

A directive to fix a minimum of two years for the chief of the force and officers on operational duties is not easy to implement. One reason is that removal of an officer, if the Government desires, may not be so easy particularly if the stipulated period demands extension of his tenure.

Such an arrangement may lead to stagnation of other officers, and an equitable rotation of "good posts" will become difficult. Further, the question whether a fixed tenure for officers will help to improve policing or efficiency is moot. There should be a meeting of minds among members of the SSC on selection and appointment.

Welcoming the court order, the former Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police, V.R. Lakshminarayanan, says there will be a qualitative change when there is complete autonomy in the police administration.

There will be the much-needed accountability to the law, which is badly missing now. The impact of the order may not be felt immediately, but only in the long run. However, much depends on how the States react to the order.

The former CBI Director, C.V.Narasimhan, who was the Member-Secretary of the National Police Commission, says it is a directive of the Supreme Court and it has to be dealt with as such.

The court has given the reasons for giving the directive after waiting for four years. It has also said none of the States has objected to the Commission's recommendations.

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