The Police Establishment Board will be made up of the DGP and four senior officers of the department. “The state government may interfere with decision of the Board in exceptional cases only after recording its reasons for doing so.”

To maintain independence of the Police Complaints Authority, the bench ordered that the PCA at the district level “may” be headed by a retired District Judge and at the state level by a retired judge of the High Court or Supreme Court. The PCA will have on its panel retired civil servants, police officers or members of civil society.

It will take note of only charges of serous misconduct by the cops including incidents involving death, grievous hurt or rape in custody. The district authority may also inquire into allegations of extortion, land grabbing etc. Another important recommendation is for setting up a National Security Commission to be headed by the Home Minister and comprising heads of the Central Police Organisations and a couple of security experts as members with the Union Home Secretary as its secretary. The NSC will draw up a panel to be placed before the appointing authority for selection and placement of chiefs of the CPOs. The Chiefs will also enjoy a two-year minimum tenure.

The petitioners had approached the court in 1996 after the government dragged its feet on the recommendations of the National Police Commission and several others regarding reforms in the force. They also requested the Court to direct the Centre and states to come out with a new police act. During the hearing, there was also a suggestion to treat offences relating to terrorism, arms trafficking and money laundering as offences against the nation and leave it to the purview of CBI. On this, the SC said it will have to wait till more elaborate studies were done on the subject.