(Sample Material) Gist of Important Articles from IIPA Journal
Topic: Police and Good Governance: Promotion of Human Rights Ved Marwah
Police Performance—Measures Needed for Improvements
The present system of administrative and political supervision over the police suffers from many distortions. After separation of the executive from the judiciary, with the amendment of Criminal Procedure Code in 1973, the so-called magisterial control has lost its original motivation. The entire control has passed on to the political rulers. Not surprisingly, the police tend to be the handmaiden of the politic of rulers of the day. There is no alternative to creating institutional mechanisms to insulate the police from arbitrary administrative and political control, and to subject it to the control of an agency, like the Security Commission, which functions in non-partisan manner and holds the-Rule of Law and public interest as the sole- criteria for judging police performance.
Mechanisms of Accountability
The existing mechanisms of accountability need to be refined and enlarged to ensure that the police does-not take recourse to illegal methods. For the sake: of so-called “practical considerations”, the police is expected to take recourse to extra-legal measures for crime control as well as for maintenance of order. Few question their use as long as they achieve the desired results. The term “legalistic police officer” is used commonly in a derogatory sense, to describe a weak and non-performing police officer. There is need for strengthening the traditional mechanisms as well while creating of new, mechanisms to enforce individual as well as organisational accountability of the police.
