The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Guidelines for police to deal with civil disputes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 03, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Guidelines for police to deal with civil disputes

Staff Reporter

Officers told to rely solely on record of rights and khata extract

This is the first time that the city police have come out with such guidelines
Bidari tells officers to refrain from interfering unnecessarily in any disputes

BANGALORE: Besieged by charges of partisanship by the police and their inaction with regard to disputes and matters related to land and buildings, the city police for the first time have come out with detailed guidelines on dealing with civil disputes.

Police officers have been asked to solely go by the entries in the record of rights and khata extract in relation to matters concerning ownership and possession of land and buildings respectively.

Stating the actions to be taken for encroachment of government land, the guidelines also mention about the way complaints of illegal occupation and extortion have to be dealt with.

City Police Commissioner Shankar M. Bidari said that many complaints registered at the police station and allegations against police officers were connected to disputes related to land and buildings. “We want our officers to follow these guidelines, which is in detail and covers various issues related to land and buildings,” he said.

The 12-page guidelines prepared in consultation with various people, including Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde, “can be adopted across the State,” the Police Commissioner added.

With regard to disputes related to land, the police officer has to look at column no. 10 and 12 in the record of rights to find the persons who own the land and are in possession of it.

This should be the basis not only to give protection to landowners, but also to evict illegal occupants by registering a case under Section 447 of the Indian Penal Code.

The police officers have been asked not to entertain any claim on any agricultural land on the basis of the general power of attorney (GPA) and the agreement of sale unless the same in mentioned in the record of rights. Protection on the ground of injunction order issued by the court should be given only after the order is mentioned in the record of rights.

Buildings

The entries in the khata extract should be considered as the basis for dealing with disputes related to sites, buildings and non-agricultural land.

The police should not give protection to GPA holders and they should be directed to approach the civil court.

The guidelines give a list of offences for encroachment and creation of fraudulent documents in relation to government lands. It asks the police officer to give protection to the Government or the authority which has acquired the land until the landowners gets an order from the civil court rescinding the acquisition on the ground of giving less compensation.

Mr. Bidari asked the police to strictly adhere to the guidelines.

He asked the police officers to refrain from interfering unnecessarily in any disputes and take initiatives to settle it in the police stations.

These guidelines can be seen on the website of the city police ( www.bcp.gov.in) by clicking on “city situation report”.

It will be shortly printed in the form of a booklet and distributed among people and advocates.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka