MHA ask states to set up investigation cells in all districts

Inability to investigate around 30% of the FIRs registered in a year and declining proportion in filing charge sheets have prompted the Centre to ask states to tweak responsibilities of policemen. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has now asked the states to establish dedicated “investigation cells in all districts” and “entrust all new cases” to this unit.

It also wants a separate road map to separate law and order duty from investigation in a time bound manner, a communique sent by MHA to states said.

The suggestion is part of the actionable points on separation of law and order duty from an investigation, identified by the MHA from the recommendations made at the Directors General of Police Conference held in Hyderabad last November.

According to the MHA, the states have “certainly made sincere attempts to improve” the criminal justice system and it is evident from the rise in the number of filing of FIRs.

The letter comes at a time when there is “considerable improvement” in the filing of FIRs but a large proportion of the cases remain uninvestigated.

The percentage of IPC cases investigated stands at 68.4%, 71.8% and 71.5% for 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively. For the crime against women alone is “just 61.8%. 68.4% and 66.5%” respectively.

“Data also indicates that there is a backlog of cases taken up for investigation and over the period, there is a declining trend in cases in which charge sheets are submitted compared to total cases in which investigations have been completed by police,” the letter noted.

It said the states have set up units like Crime Branch to deal with specific cases of grave offences but all other cases continue to be handled by the local police.

The MHA, which argues that entrusting investigation duty to local police would have an adverse impact on investigation as well as maintenance of peace, wants the states to take immediate steps to separate these functions.

The proposed cell at districts could be led by a Superintendent of Police, the MHA said adding an investigation monitoring cell could be established at state-level headed by an Additional Director General-rank officer to supervise these units.

Reminding that time-bound completion of investigations is essential to ensure speedy justice, the MHA said amending Police Acts would take time and they should take these steps immediately to separate law and order duty from investigation.

BOX: Centre's Prescription for States
** Establish investigation cells in all districts
** All new cases should go to this unit, earlier ones should continue with local policemen
** Roadmap needed to separate law and order duty from investigations
** Set up Investigation Monitoring Cell at state-level
** Ensure charge sheets filed soon after concluding probe
** Regular training for Investigating Officers
** Fill all vacancies in a time-bound manner
** Consider outsourcing non-core police functions