Rise of Authoritarian Policing in India

Origin of policing in India

The Indian Councils Act, 1861, was passed by the British government in 1861. The
act laid the groundwork for India's modern and professionalised police force. It
established the Superior Police Services, subsequently known as the Indian
Imperial Police, as a replacement cadre of police. The military officer for each
province held the highest position within the service. According to a central
warrant of precedence issued in 1937, the position of inspector general was
equivalent and classed with brigadier and similar ranks in the Indian Armed
Forces. Police brutality refers to any unwarranted bodily or mental assault or death
that occurs as a result of interactions with the police. The Indian Councils Act,
1861, was passed by the British government in 1861. The act laid the groundwork
for India's modern and professionalised police force. It established the Superior
Police Services, subsequently known as the Indian Imperial Police, as a
replacement cadre of police. The military officer for each province held the highest
position within the service. According to a central warrant of precedence issued in
1937, the position of inspector general was equivalent and classed with brigadier
and similar ranks in the Indian Armed Forces. Police brutality refers to any
unwarranted bodily or mental assault or death that occurs as a result of interactions
with the police. There have been countless incidents in the past, for example, the
unleashing of terror by the police on students in the 1970s in Kolkata in order to
quell the student movements, or the Bhagalpur incidents in 1979 and 1980 when
the police allegedly blinded 31 individuals under trial (or convicted with crimes
according to some versions) by pouring acid into their eyes.
Despite of numerous laws being passed in the parliament and the Constitution
guaranteeing human rights specifically for the persons accused of crimes, police
brutality is still exists as a problem in India. According to status of policing in
India report 2019, 3 out of 4 police personnel believe its justified to use violence
towards criminals.
THE PREVENTION OF TORTURE BILL,2010
The Minister for Home Affairs introduced the Prevention of Torture Bill, which
makes torture a criminal offence. On April 26, 2010, Shri P. Chidambaram,
Minister of Home Affairs, introduced the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 in the
Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha passed the bill on May 6, 2010, and it is currently
pending in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill's Statement of Objects and Reasons notes that
it is being introduced to ratify the 1975 United Nations Convention Against
Torture. India may be a signatory to the Convention, but it has yet to create a law
against torture that would allow it to ratify it. The bill defines torture and specifies
the circumstances under which it is prohibited. The bill aims to make torture
performed by public officials punishable. It specifies that any act by a public
worker that causes grave harm to a person or puts their life, limb, or health in
jeopardy in order to acquire information or a confession is considered torture. It
does, however, exempt any harm produced by an act that comes within the scope
of any legal proceeding.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS
• Any public servant who tortures a person for the purpose of obtaining
information or a confession, or on the basis of religion, caste, race, or language,
faces up to ten years in prison and a fine.

• If a complaint is filed within six months of the commission of the offence, a court
will take cognizance of the offence under the Act.

• An offence committed by a public servant must be sanctioned by the federal or

state government before a court can take cognizance of it (if employed by the
centre or state). In all other cases, the authority with the jurisdiction to remove the
accused must give sanction.
PREVENTION OF TORTURE BILL,2017

According to a note from the Law Ministry of Indi which was prepared to be
used in Lok Sabha (Question Hour), the Centre had in November reminded all
states to send their views on the draft 'Prevention of torture bill, 2017'.

It had also asked for opinion on a law panel report submitted to the Law Ministry
in October, 2017 on a proposal to amend sections 330 and 331 of the Indian Penal
Code to include 'torture' as a crime. The proposal was sent to the Law Commission,
then headed by Justice B.S Chauhan. The draft 'Prevention of torture bill, 2017'
proposes "stringent punishment" to perpetrators to curb instances of torture and to
possess a deterrent effect. The punishment could extend up to captivity and also
include a fine.

The report submitted to the law ministry said the Criminal Procedure Code,
1973, and therefore the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, require amendments to
accommodate provisions regarding compensation and burden of proof. It
recommended an amendment to section 357B of IPC to include payment of
compensation, additionally to the payment of fine provided within the Indian legal
code . The report, now within the property right , said the Indian Evidence Act
required the insertion of a replacement section 114B. After so much of deliberation
there is a dead end, as if all parliamentarians were just beating around the bush.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

In the light of all the recent cases of police brutality during the lockdown due to
COVID-19 pandemic, there was a serious surge in the no. of cases of police
brutality in India. One such case was of killing of father-son duo. The incident
dates back to June 19,2020, when 59-year-old P Jeyaraj and his 31-year-old son
Bennicks (Fenix) were detained by the local police in Thoothukoodi district of
Tamil Nadu for allegedly violating lockdown guidelines by keeping their shop
open exceeding the permitted lockdown shop opening timings.
They were brutally thrashed and tormented while in custody, post mortem reports
and eye-witnesses revealed. Eyewitnesses had also stated in their official
statements that they were stripped naked, their knees were smashed brutally and
their chest hair was ripped out. They further claimed that the cops inserted metal
objects into the victim’s rectum leaving them bleeding profusely. Their lungis had
to be changed seven times in about five hours. The father-son duo died at a
hospital in Kovilpatti on June 23,2020.

Violence now runs in the veins of Gandhi’s nation, where there were severe cases
of police brutality during the anti-CAA protests which eventually led to riots in
north east Delhi where the nation witnessed bone chilling scenes where accused
were forced to sing the national anthem. Reports suggest that many people are of
the opinion that those who eat beef and those who don’t sing the national anthem
in cinema halls demands lynching and deserve to die. Jeyaraj and Fenix’s vicious
killing shouldn’t shock or surprise us but it must wake us up to demand for a
policing system that doesn’t take the law into its own hands. Amidst all the uproar
of demanding changes in our police system, putting an end to police brutality, most
wanted gangster “Vikas Dubey” was encountered by UP police. Dubey and his
men were hunted down within seven days in an intense operation by Uttar
Pradesh special task force after eight policemen, including DSP Devendra Mishra,
were killed in an ambush laid out allegedly by Dubey and his men in Bikru village
of Kanpur. The STF nabbed Dubey in Ujjain, where he was spotted by locals at the
famous Mahakal temple. Police claimed he snatched the revolver of a
fellow policeman before fleeing after the road accident in Kanpur on July 10. They
claim that when cops tried to catch him alive, he opened fire at them, forcing
retaliatory fire from the cops, during which he received fatal injuries.
Pradesh. The opposition has alleged that Dubey was killed to cover up a gangster-
police-politician nexus in Uttar Dubey. Members of his gang have so far been
gunned down in separate encounters in Kanpur, Hamirpur and Etawah.

Bollywood movies portray such cops as a savior or hero which is then cheered
by the general public, and police are also of the opinion that such criminals should
be given instant death without any trial which is a blatant depiction of police
brutality savored like justice. The alleged killing of father-son duo, the widely
celebrated rapists killing in Hyderabad and the encounter of Vikas Dubey are just
the repulsive fallouts of that culture ingrained in India’s police system. These are
only few of the recent cases the nation witnessed in recent times, many such
incidents have happened in India in the past and several go unreported.

According to official figures 427 people have died in police custody since 2016.
5476 died since 2016 including judicial custody. During these times of crisis where
this pandemic is bringing out the worst in people , reportedly 12 people died in
police custody for violating lockdown rules. The concept of justice in India is itself
violent, with people baying for blood by calling for public hanging of the accused.
The common opinion for the police to teach criminals a lesson, instead of taking
them through the defined course of justice and correction, is very strong. Not only
in India police brutality in also prevalent in various parts of the world. The killing
of George Floyd on 25th May in Minneapolis resulted in the black lives matter
movement which went down as the largest movement in the U.S history. Across
the United States, there have been more than 4,700 demonstrations, or an average
of 140 per day, since the first protests began in Minneapolis on May 26, and all
this because of a white police officer killed a black man (George Floyd) by pinning
him down on the ground,choking him until he showed no signs of life. A citizen
died just because he used a $20 counterfeit note to buy cigarettes. Whats’s more
disheartening is the “selective activism” of Indian celebrities .The Twitter
outpouring of prominent celebrities against George Floyd’s death by the police
brings us to the an important question, “ Does death of a black guy affects an
Indian celebrity more who works for Indian audience, gets paid for it ,
have many followers on various social media handle have more values for
American lives than Indian lives” Because in our very own country the Dalits have
been ostracized from countless years and they are still tormented . Recently cops in
MP (Madhya Pradesh) assaulted Dalit couple, kids and kin for resisting removal of
encroachment. With recent cases of police brutality, Indian celebrities are seen to
be practicing their “selective activism” which is distressing.

Some basic Sections and Articles to remember if you are a detainee

 Article 21: “No person shall be deprived of his life or personnel liberty
except according a procedure established by law”. This is the “procedural
magna carta protective of life and liberty”
  Section 49 of CrPc: Several rights to the arrested person. “Specifically states
that there shall be no more restraint than is justly necessary to prevent
escape”
 Section 50 of CrPc: Informing grounds of arrest while making arrest without
warrant

Most importantly the arrested person have a right to get free legal aid and
the right to consult their lawyers.

Conclusion
It brings utter shame to realize the fact that the largest democratic nation in the
world is having the one of the most overburdened policing systems in the world.
Working conditions of a police officer in India is quite taxing as well. A police
officer is considered to be on duty 24*7. This overworking is resulting in their poor
efficiency with all the frustration getting piled up together eventually getting all
out on the detainees. And with the ongoing crisis, the situation is getting worse day
by day. There is no justification for police brutality but considering the fact and
mental status of a human who is working 14 hours per day, something is just not
right.

Significant changes in our policing system , adopting new policing policies and
passing of prevention of torture bill,2010 is the need of the hour which will make
police brutality or torture by any government official a punishable offence. One
such great example is of Andhra Pradesh which took a great initiative by giving
weekly off to police officers. A variety of reforms have been suggested by the
Supreme court,NITI aayog and the government appointed Administrative Reforms
Commission but all this have largely remained on paper, it’s high time we take
these suggestion into consideration. Because till the time police officers know they
can get away with anything and nothing will happen to them with the our
bollywood movies and public cheer acting as a social sanction cases like Fenix and
Jeyraj will keep happening.
Bibliography

 https://thewire.in/rights/police-brutality-george-floyd-jayaraj-bennix-public-
reaction
 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/Police-Brutality/news
 https://www.tatatrusts.org/insights/survey-reports/state-of-policing-in-india-
report-2019#:~:text=State%20of%20Policing%20in%20India%20Report
%20(SPIR)%202019%20is%20a,and%20day%20to%20day%20policing.
 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html