Shishtachar squads, beat patrolling, cab driver checks: Supreme Court issues directives for women's safety in Delhi

The Supreme Court has issued a series of binding directions to revamp preventive policing, public transport security, and monitoring across the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) to ensure the safety of women [In Re: Recent Rape Incidents in Delhi NCR].

The directions form part of the ongoing suo motu proceedings initiated by the Court after a spate of rape cases were reported recently from Delhi-NCR, including a case where a teenager was raped at a public park.

In its order, the Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran emphasised that public safety requires continuous ground visibility rather than post-incident response.

The Court observed that unmonitored dark stretches, broken streetlights, and illegal eateries directly facilitate crimes against women.

"Public safety... cannot be viewed solely through the prism of a response to a crime after it has occurred. The manner in which public spaces are maintained, the visibility of police patrolling and surveillance, and the promptness with which reported deficiencies are addressed are equally relevant to crime prevention," the Court noted in its October 5 order.

To bridge the gap between "paperwork and ground reality," the Supreme Court issued the following key directives:

1. Mandatory driver verification for buses and cabs: Strict verification of drivers and assistants across government/ private buses, app-based aggregators (Ola, Uber, Rapido), and private cabs/autos. Verified names and photographs must be displayed inside vehicles in passenger view, accompanied by mandatory uniforms and prohibitions on unauthorized sub-letting. Non-compliance will trigger vehicle seizure and driver suspension.

2. Control-room command centers ("War Rooms"): The Delhi Police Chief and Chief Secretary must submit a joint report on the existence, coverage, and real-time response protocols of dedicated control-room command centers or "war rooms."

3. SOS protocol and vehicle tracking: Authorities must place on record the response protocol, designated units, and turnaround times for SOS alerts. The Court also ordered the evaluation of Vehicle Tracking System (VTS) devices in public transport as per its earlier ruling in S Rajaseekaran v. UOI.

4. Crackdown on illegal eateries and obstructions: Police were directed to remove heavy vehicles habitually parked unlawfully that create blind spots, dismantle unauthorised liquor shops/ eateries, and disperse loitering crowds near liquor outlets. During hearings, the Court had observed that anti-social elements often gather at such illegal eateries, while calling on the police to monitor such places.

5. Community engagement and citizen meetings: Regular citizen-engagement meetings must be instituted under a designated officer - particularly in areas housing paying-guest accommodations and educational institutions for young women - to receive safety concerns directly.

6. Institutional training in preventive policing: Training in preventive policing must become part of police induction and periodic refresher courses through the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) to fix territorial accountability.

7. Review of "shishtachar squads" and anti-harassment schemes: The Delhi Police Commissioner has been directed to submit weekly reports from the preceding three months on the operational status of "Shishtachar Squads" (anti-eve-teasing units), along with status reports on "Operation Nirbheek" and the "Nazuk Scheme" (Delhi Police initiatives aimed at preventing sexual offences against children and encouraging girls to report sexual harassment and abuse).

In its ruling, the Bench invoked the "Broken Windows" theory of criminology which holds that visible signs of disorder and minor offences, if left unchecked, can create an environment that encourages more serious crime.

The Court, similarly, noted that visible and unattended signs of civic neglect signal an absence of authority and create a safe haven for anti-social elements.

"A broken or inadequate streetlight, a non-functional CCTV camera, an unmonitored dark stretch, or an unaddressed public complaint may individually appear as minor administrative or infrastructural lapses. However, when such deficiencies remain visible and unattended over a period of time, they collectively convey a perception of neglect and diminished vigilance," the Court observed.

The Bench clarified that preventive policing cannot become a justification for arbitrary or excessive exercise of police power. Law enforcement must remain within the bounds of legality and proportionality, it said.

To ensure institutional accountability, the Bench also ordered the Chief Secretary of the Delhi government and the Delhi Commissioner of Police to be the sole deponents for all affidavits submitted before the Court to appraise it about compliance with its directives. The Court warned that these officers will be held personally answerable if the directions are not implemented with due seriousness.

During the hearing of the case, the Bench had orally urged the Delhi Police to instil genuine fear in the minds of miscreants and not hesitate to take strict action.

"Unless that fear and fright is created ki ‘ab kuch kiya toh marr jayenge’ (if we do anything now, we will be finished), you will not be able to prevent such crimes," the Court observed.

It added that the police must rise to the occasion to ensure that women feel safe even late at night.

Meanwhile, Senior Advocate Liz Mathew, appearing as amicus curiae, highlighted an urgent need for enhanced beat patrolling in the streets.

She pointed to a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report from 2020 which indicated a 39 per cent vacancy in active police station and beat patrol duties across Delhi. She also called for the streamlining of multiple citizen grievance portals and advocated for QR-code-based time-stamping and geo-fencing to ensure patrol accountability.

Representing the Centre and the Delhi government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General Archana Pathak Dave informed the Bench that joint deliberations among key departments - including the Delhi Police, the Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council, and the Women and Child Development Ministry - have already commenced to implement safety measures.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on November 16.

[Read Order]