Representatives of several civil rights and human rights NGOs urged the State government to properly publicise and seek public views on the draft amendment bill to Karnataka Police Act, before tabling it in the legislature.

They had gathered at a workshop on “Better Policing: A Distant Dream or Impending Reality,” organised by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and Coalition of Karnataka NGOs for Better Policing at National Law School of India University in Bangalore on Saturday. They discussed about violation of civil rights by police and advocated a comprehensive reformation of the Police Act to make police, people-friendly and accountable, in the light of 2006 Supreme Court (SC) directives.

Shobha Sharma of CHRI’s Access to Justice division said, the Karnataka Police Act, 1963 was based on Indian Police Act, 1861, a colonial legislation redundant in modern democratic scenario. It needs to be reformed as sought by several expert committees and the SC directives in Pankaj Singh’s case in September 2006.

Time-bound measures
She said, SC had sought time-bound measures and amendments in the Police Acts of all states for preventing illegitimate political interference in working of the police, for improving their administrative structure and for better accountability of police personnel, among others. But, most states are indifferent to the issue and Karnataka is no exception, since Karnataka Police Amendment Bill 2007 seems just a way to show compliance to SC order while diluting the essence of its directives. The bill is sought to be placed before legislature without taking public views on it, she said.

Prof Hasan Mansur of PUCL said, “people should question arbitrary laws” adding that any law does not become sacrosanct just because it is enacted by the legislature. Right to life and life with dignity are sacred, which the laws should not take away, he said while regretting that police in India continued to encroach on citizens’ rights, similar to pre-independence days. “There is nothing like people’s power to make the police behave,” he said stressing the importance of public awareness.

The workshop resolved to submit memoranda to Governor and State Government seeking a public debate on the amendment bill before finalising it and for proper implementation of SC directives.
A follow up meeting of NGOs was scheduled on October 22.