HC seeks info on police vacancies

The High Court on Tuesday directed the State government to submit a report on the number of vacancies in each cadre within the State police department.

Hearing a suo motu cognisance of the High Court along with a batch of petitions connected to the police department, a division bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice B V Nagarathna lambasted the State government for not improving the working conditions of police personnel. 

When the bench questioned the government counsel on the number of policemen in the State, the counsel responded that he still has to get the information. He, however, admitted that every police station in Karnataka was understaffed and sought time to submit his report on numbers and the vacancies.

The advocate of one of the petitioners submitted to the court that there are nearly 4,000 police posts to be filled.  The bench, which observed that existing policemen are overburdened with work, asked if they are being paid for overtime.

“Policemen are not paid overtime and are asked to work for more,” Justice Waghela said. “They are not superman like in the movies to fly around.”

The bench also observed, “Policemen deputed for investigation must be allowed to perform his duty and must not be diverted to execute other duties. An investigation must be conducted within the first five days of crime or else, there are chances of evidence becoming tampered.”