The need for independent police complaints authorities in India

While India retains its title as the largest democracy in the world, the country still suffers from colonial imprints, especially in its policing apparatus. A major reason behind this could be attributed to the lack of reform and political resistance that continues to chain law enforcement.

The police in India continue to operate in an imperial fashion, where the prime responsibility remains management of law and order. There is a lack of civilian-oriented or people-friendly policing. Despite recommendations made by various committees and directions given by the judiciary, legislatures at both Central and state levels have avoided introducing police reforms. Law enforcement continues to retain British era philosophies and operates as a ‘force’ which often resorts to abuse and misuse of power in terms of violence, corruption and victimization, rather than as a community-oriented organization tasked with promoting communal harmony and collective growth.

With enormous powers, including those permitting use of violence, the organization operates in a military fashion, with insufficient public accountability, poor transparency and negligible third-party oversight. Divided up into ranks, the police force continues to be a political arm, which is twisted frequently to suit political agendas, often while committing human rights violations and humiliating citizens.

The gravity of the situation could be understood by the fact that a retired Director General of Police had to knock on the doors of the Supreme Court seeking police reforms which were necessary to ensure separation and independence of the police from political agencies and to bring in unbiased mechanisms of addressing public grievances. The Court proceeded to lay down seven guidelines which were lauded throughout the nation. However almost two decades since the Prakash Singh judgment, these directives have not been completely implemented.

One of the major reforms directed by the Supreme Court was the establishment of police complaints authorities at both district and state levels. The objective of such authorities was to inquire into police misconduct and recommend punishment, including suspension and termination of services, which would be binding upon the police force. The Court tasked the district-level police complaints authorities to inquire into complaints made against officers up to the rank of the Deputy Superintendent of Police and the state-level police complaints authorities to deal with complaints against officers above the rank of the Deputy Superintendent of Police. Furthermore, it also tasked the state-level authority to investigate cases of serious misconduct including cases of rape, death and grievous hurt in police custody and the district-level authority was required to inquire into allegations of extortion, land/house grabbing or any incident involving serious abuse of authority.

The Court also apprehended the problem of nemo judex in causa sua which translates to 'no one is a judge in his own case' and provided that the authorities would be headed by retired judges of High Courts and district courts, respectively, and would be composed of representatives from the State Human Rights Commission, Lok Ayukta, State Public Service Commission and retired officers from vigilance department, CID, civil servants, intelligence etc.

However, despite such detailed directives, most states across the country have failed to incorporate the same into their respective police acts or notifications. Non-establishment of police complaints authorities at both district and state levels take away the citizens’ right to redressal or report grievances, and facilitates police misconduct and abuse of power.

In furtherance of examining the need for establishing police complaint authorities, I filed multiple Right to Information (RTI) applications with the Delhi Police. The information sought through such applications is two-fold:

a. The number of complaints regarding police misconduct received from 2019 to 2021 and the number of officials suspended or dismissed pursuant to such complaints.

b. Whether police complaints authorities have been established at district and state levels and if so, the number of complaints that have been received/disposed of by such authorities.

The information revealed that Delhi only had a state-level police complains authority and complaints of citizens were continued to be adjudicated by internal departments such as vigilance, punishment branch, departmental inquiry cell and others, which were chaired by police officials, thereby raising apprehension of bias and unfair treatment.

It must be borne in mind that the law envisages provisions for judicial intervention for registration of FIRs because it is known that the police may refuse to investigate genuine complaints of commission of offences. Therefore, one could only imagine the hardship and harassment faced by individuals approaching the police authorities with complaints against their own members.

The biased adjudication and poor grievance redressal is evident from the data received regarding the number of official complaints filed with various police departments regarding misconduct and the subsequent action taken. The response to RTI applications revealed that in 2019, a total of 5,118 complaints of police misconduct, corruption and abuse of power were received. However, only 309 officers were suspended and 40 were dismissed from service. Therefore, approximately 6% of the total number of complaints were acted upon.

Similarly, in the year 2020, the total number of complaints received was 6,439 and the number of officers suspended and dismissed is 250 and 42, respectively, thereby witnessing a reduce in percentage of complaints acted upon to 4.5%.

In the year 2021, the total number of complaints filed was significantly higher. A total of 7,494 complaints were received. However, there was not much change in the rate of corrective action taken and the number of officers suspended during the year was only 318 and those who were dismissed from service were around 48. Therefore, the number of complaints adjudicated upon was 4.8%.

The above statistics signal an alarming situation as it only highlights the rampant increase in police misconduct facilitated by the state, in the national capital, having the largest police force in the country. One could only imagine the situation in other states, especially those that still suffer from lack of awareness and low education rates, where people still fear the militarized police forces and do not have equal access to justice.

The research data and its analysis can be accessed here.

Daksh Sachdeva is a final year student at Jindal Global Law School. His research was conducted under the supervision of Prof Ajay Kumar Pandey (Professor and Executive Director, Clinical Programmes at JGLS).