Sorting out police-army confrontations

Defence-civil relations might be on the mend over land-swaps for road infrastructure projects. But a few traffic-related incidents involving defence personnel sometimes threaten to derail this bonhomie. While army personnel dismiss these cases as stray episodes that needn’t be hyped, the police have a different take.

It is a long-standing issue, points out retired Inspector General of Police, Gopal Hosur. “Such episodes are more frequent in places where there are cantonments in cities and also on the railways. The conflict arises when the police try to enforce the law against violations committed by the defence personnel in civilian areas.”

These violations are often linked to road accidents and brawls. “The defence personnel feel that only the Army Act or Navy Act or Air Force Act are applicable to them, but not any other Act. This perception may be true, but one should always remember that the first to respond are always the police,” Hosur says.

Veteran army personnel, who have served in the city for long years, admit that such violations do happen at the lower levels. But they should not be generalised. If an army vehicle is involved in an accident in a civilian area, the driver is liable to be penalised under the civilian laws. “A civil case can also be registered against him unless the judge decides to hand over the case to an Army court,” explains a retired army officer.

Defence personnel have their own laws to deal with deviant behaviour of the personnel. They are subjected to a court of enquiry and have recourse to the Armed Forces Tribunal. 

Besides traffic cases, brawls involving police and jawans have often raised eyebrows. The retired officer does not condone such behaviour but also blames it on police high-handedness. He explains, “By far, the Bengaluru police have been very well-behaved. But there are odd cases.”

The police say that in many cases where a defence person has committed a violation, he tends to call up his colleagues. Once their numbers swell, they tend to show their muscle power. Such incidents have been reported from Bengaluru, Belagavi and Bidar, all cities with Army and Air Force bases, says Hosur.

Former Director General of Police, Shankar Bidari identifies ‘ego’ as one of the factors behind such confrontations. “If there is a deficit of understanding between the military and the police, the higher authorities should intervene and sort out differences.

Civil and Military liaisoning meeting headed by the Chief Secretary takes place twice a year where issues related to the state government and military are discussed. The two establishments should give due respect to each other,” he says.

Both the police and army officials agree that there is a need for a more coordinated approach to sort out issues quickly. As Hosur points out, meetings involving the government at the chief secretary or Home secretary level and the defence service top brass should be more frequent.

Army officials say good coordination already exists between the military police and the city traffic police. Besides, high-ranking officers do attend the liaisoning meetings to sort out any problems.

Past incidents
Sept 25, 2016: Traffic police book Lt Gen S P S Katewa for directing staff to
demolish a part of the median in front of his house on Trinity Church Road.

July 30, 2016: A 33-year-old Major in Indian army assaulted by unidentified men on road. Complaint filed with Baiyappanahalli police.

March 24, 2013: Twelve persons, including three police officers, injured in clash between jawans from an army base in Halasuru and residents of adjoining
Gauthampura and Dheenabandhu Nagar.