Plea filed in apex court seeking implementation of police reforms

 A public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking direction from the Centre and all states to implement the Model Police Act 2006 as per the directives of the apex court.

The reforms directed by the SC in the PIL filed by former IPS officer Prakash Singh included a fixed tenure of two years for the Director General of Police in a state, among others. A decade ago, a PIL was filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking directions to implement the Model Police Act 2006 in all the states.

The petitioner said it is not only necessary to secure the fundamental right of fair trial and speedy justice, but is also essential to curb corruption, crime, casteism and communalism, the greatest menace of democracy and development.

There have been many commissions, both at the central and state level — National Police Commission, State Police Commissions, Gore Committee, Ribeiro Committee, Padmanabhaiah Committee, Malimath Committee — which made recommendations for reforms, but received no more than cosmetic treatment at the hands of the government, the petitioner, also a Delhi BJP spokesman contended.

The petitioner claimed that most of the states were following the archaic Indian Police Act 1861 with a few modifications, making police the ‘subjects’ of parliamentarians and legislators.