Time to revisit the police commissionerate system

On 15 January 2020, the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet approved the commissionerate System of policing for the state capital of Lucknow and Noida. This system delegates greater responsibilities and gives magisterial power to the IPS officer of the rank of Inspector General posted as Commissioners. If the Commissionerate system becomes a success in the two cities, it is likely to be implemented across the entire state of UP. The National Police Commissions 6th report released in 1983 recommends a Commissionerate system in cities with a population of 10 lakh and above, as well as in places that are unique under special circumstances.

In 2005, the draft model police act framed by a committee constituted by the Home Ministry (MHA) also recommended that all cities and urban areas with population of more than 10 Lakhs should be administered under this system. Till date this system has been implemented across 63 cities across 15 states. It is felt that the system will usher in efficiencies by bestowing greater power and responsibilities to the police where it will be directly held accountable to the Police Chief and the Minister at the helm. Rest of country barring the 63 cities come under the dual command structure where control and direction over the police vests with the SP (head of district police) and the District Magistrate (executive) with proper checks and balances. This also means that there is less concentration of power in the hands of the police and buck stops at the level of the DM in the district. By and large the districts are peaceful as even when there is a problem, the DM is always there for the people to approach for relief, as a population tends to open up more to officers not in uniform, as there is always a fear of getting arrested and taken to a police station. In all the police commissionerate towns there is no such second appeal that exists and people are at the mercy of the uniformed police.

It is a matter of grave concern to note that the law and order situation in the country witnessed catastrophic failures where widespread and persistent demonstrations over the NRC bill and CAA act culminated in riots across the country, mostly in cities run by the police commissionerates. The protest at Shaheen Bagh, which went on from 14 December 2019 until 24 March 2020 makes it amply clear that the police commissionerate system when needed the most failed to fulfill its objective. The protest ultimately ended mainly as a result of the nationwide lockdown that was imposed due to the Covid -19 pandemic. Nearly 53 people were killed over a course of 10 days in the riots that engulfed North East Delhi. It was clear from the beginning that the governments messaging with regards to both the Bill and the Act had failed, with minority groups certain that the Act was discriminatory towards them in all sense and purpose. This could have been clarified had the governments used the DMs of these towns properly to communicate with the people.

It is a matter of grave concern to note that the law and order situation in the country witnessed catastrophic failures where widespread and persistent demonstrations over the NRC bill and CAA act culminated in riots across the country, mostly in cities run by the police commissionerates

In early March 2020 the Tablighi Jamat congregation that took place in Delhi’s Nizamuddin Mosque became a Covid-19 super spreader. The Delhi Police in this case completely dropped the ball and failed to tackle the situation by taking the necessary preemptive measure such as banning the event. Out of 14,378 infections present at the time, nearly 4,291 cases were linked to the Markaz event held in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area.

With the onset of the pandemic, there have been numerous instances of police excesses against citizens who the police are duty bound to protect. Recently, a father and son duo in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, were beaten to death in custody in a case of custodial torture over a frivolous matter which could have been solved at a basic conversational level. A total of 1,674 custodial deaths, including 1,530 deaths in judicial custody and 144 deaths in police custody, took place from 1 April 2017 to 28 February 2018.

The situation is alarming, with nearly 5 custodial deaths per day. Instances of police harassment across the country over noncompliance of wearing face masks and driving during lockdown without proper permits have only perpetrated people’s suspicion and fear of the police ecosystem. In the latest incident in Kanpur, nearly eight policemen were gunned down in cold blood when a dreaded gangster, Vikas Dubey, allegedly with political patronage at all levels received a tipoff of his imminent arrest from the police. The police gunned him down less than a day after his arrest under questionable circumstances. Kanpur is now under a Police Commissioner.

Encounter killings, demolition of properties and other ad hoc reactive measures are not going to solve the systemic corruption that exists as a result of criminal, police and political nexus. If anything, it will only move on to the next level of sophistication making the nexus harder to detect. Has there ever been a feedback from the citizens taken with regards to the implementation of the police commissionerate system? More importantly, have the citizens been duly informed of what the systems actually means? Law and order is a matter of day-to-day existence and it is the sole government responsibility to ensure what a change from dual system to a commissionerate based one entails.

In this context, it is interesting to note a recent order issued by the Delhi Administration which reads as follows: “There shall be unified command and control in the district and therefore, all the DCPs of Delhi Police, deputy commissioners of municipal corporations, all district heads of other departments and heads of all government hospitals of GNCT of Delhi shall report to the respective District Magistrate and shall function under their command, control and supervision for management of Covid-19 pandemic,” the order read, issued by Chief Secretary Vijay Dev. This decision was part of the many proposals discussed after Delhi leadership’s meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the alarming situation of rising Covid-19 cases. The pandemic has Delhi firmly in its vice. The number of cases have gone beyond 100,000 with more than 3,000 deaths, however, by July things seemed more in control. This has been the result of timely intervention by the center at the MHA level and the Chief Secretary of Delhi who passed the orders that the DMs were in charge of the overall Covid-19 management. Under the DMs of the respective districts, the measures included aggressive public awareness campaigns, home isolation, panic reduction, rapidly increasing hospital capacity and accessibility of critical medical and policy information.

The pandemic has Delhi firmly in its vice. The number of cases have gone beyond 100,000 with more than 3,000 deaths, however, by July things seemed more in control. This has been the result of timely intervention by the center at the MHA level and the Chief Secretary of Delhi who passed the orders that the DMs were in charge of the overall Covid-19 management

Do we have to COPY the west in everything when time tested administrative structure has been functioning efficiently since centuries in India when the Suba (districts) was introduced DURING the time of Asoka? The Policing system in the west are rotting from within and nothing more can be said about the horrific police brutality against African Americans being witnessed time and again there. A tipping point had reached when the entire nation witnessed the death of George Floyd on national television. There are calls to defund the police in the US and in some cases even dismiss the entire police force in cities where it may be impossible to reform the existing structure, much on the lines of what was done in the Republic of Georgia. The levels of corruptions in Georgia had become so endemic that ‘you could not drive 10 km without at least a few traffic policemen stopping your car and asking for a couple of dollars bribe’. Mikheil Saakashvili who was elected President in 2004 decided to dissolve the entire state security apparatus, which included the Ministry of State Security (MSS) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), formally dismissing employees from both. An entirely new force was created which at present is a role model for police reforms not only Georgia but around the world. A similar incident of police excess, a mirror image of the manner of arrest of George Floyd took place in the commissionerate of Jodhpur Rajasthan where an altercation between a citizen and the police for non-compliance of not wearing a mask led to police heavy handedness where eventually the person was subdued with a policemen placing his knee on the neck of the person involved in the altercation. The police may justify its tactics by blaming the victim with a prior record, but it makes for bad optics and only deepens the existing mistrust of law enforcement.

The Policing system in the west are rotting from within and nothing more can be said about the horrific police brutality against African Americans being witnessed time and again there. A tipping point had reached when the entire nation witnessed the death of George Floyd on national television

It is now time for the lawmakers and the people to take a deep look at the police commissionerate system, its successes and failures, and consider a revert back to the time- tested dual system. A system with the necessary checks and balances that work for the benefit of the citizens it is deemed to serve.

• Domestic Politics and Governance
• Law and Justice
• India
• commissionerate
• Delhi Police

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