Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir C Phunsong today filed an application in the Supreme Court asking for permission to suspend the implementation of its directions relating to police reforms. He also admitted that at least one direction—separation of investigation and law and order—meant for immediate implementation by all states “does not pertain to J-K”.

An apex court Bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal in 2006, while hearing a writ petition, had asked all states to implement a set of police reforms. Besides the above-mentioned directive, it included setting up of a State Security Commission, a Police Complaints Authority and and fixing a minimum tenure of DGP, IGP, etc, “with immediate effect”.

Expressing the state’s “inability”, Phunsong said, “The separation of investigation and law and order may be counter-productive as it will disturb the existing security set-up in the state” maintaining that “so far as J-K is concerned, the situation is quite different”.

“It would be advisable to keep in abeyance the implementation of separation of investigation till normalcy returns to the state in the larger interest. This is because the terrorism-related crime is accompanied by law and order and vice-versa and have to be dealt with together,” the Chief Secretary said.

As far as the Police Complaint Authority is concerned, the state highlighted that many disruptive agencies were active and even linked with large terrorist outfits, which were always on the lookout for false and frivolous complaints against the functioning of police agencies. “Thus, at this juncture, the creation of such an authority would give a fillip to their movement.”

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