Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Kerala Police Ordinance evokes mixed reactions

T. Ramavarman

`Government needs to do lot more to ensure independent functioning of police'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Police (Amendment) Ordinance promulgated recently by the State Government as a follow-up initiative of the Supreme Court order in this regard has evoked mixed reactions from experts. Even those who welcomed the Ordinance as a step in the right direction said the Government needed to do a lot more to ensure that the police would be able to function as an independent, accountable and efficient law enforcement machinery.

The Supreme Court had earlier directed the Central and State Governments to file compliance affidavits by January 3, 2007, on the changes made in the police structures and laws as per the order of the Court pronounced on September 22, 2006.

Later, the Court agreed that the Kerala Government could file the affidavit in the second week of March. It was this time-frame which forced the State Government to issue the Ordinance.

Welcoming the Ordinance, former chairman of the Kerala Police Performance and Accountability Commission K.T. Thomas said: "We are happy that much of the recommendations of the Commission have been reflected in the Ordinance. There are several positive aspects to the Ordinance. For example, the Ordinance separates the law and order wing from the investigation section in the police. Similarly, it also provides for the constitution of State and district-level authorities for redressing the complaints against the police. Another remarkable facet of the Ordinance is that it provides for a fixed tenure of the police officials." Mr. Thomas, however, said the recommendation to de-link lock-ups from police stations had not been incorporated into the Ordinance. Many of the custodial tortures occurred as the lock-ups were situated in the police stations. The Commission suggested the setting up of a common lock-up for three police stations together. This would help reduce the chances of such tortures, he said.

Pointing out that as per the Ordinance a police official could be transferred when he became an accused in a criminal case, Mr. Thomas said the provision could be misused by anti-social elements by filing malicious private complaints against earnest police officials. There should be safeguards in this regard.

Legal expert N.R. Madhava Menon hailed the Ordinance as an earnest initiative in the spirit of the Supreme Court order. He, however, pointed out that as per the Supreme Court order, the State and district-level Police Complaint Authorities could be selected by the Government from a panel of names proposed by the Chief Justice of the High Court. But the Ordinance did not say that the heads of the authorities would be selected from such a panel.

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