The police belongs to the people in power. That is the reality. But a recent Supreme Court judgement could change all this. Ten years after the need for reform was first brought to the court’s attention in a PIL case, the Supreme Court took the decisive step of instructing the central and state governments to kick-start police reform in the judgment delivered on September 22. Too wise to leave it all to the executive, the court has set out seven directives as well as a timeline for compliance. By January 3, 2007 the court wants to know what governments have done to change the police to an essential service the people of India can depend upon to uphold the rule of law and constitutional values, rather than violate them at every turn.

The directives go right to the heart of the matter — to create a regime where operational autonomy goes hand in hand with accountability without taking away the overall responsibility of the state to ensure the safety and security of its people through policing that acts according to the law. The directives mandate governments to fix tenures for particular ranks; set up security commissions to act as buffers between the police and executive; appoint the director general of police from among candidates chosen by the Union Public Service Commission on the basis of objective criteria; and bring crucial internal matters such as transfers, postings and promotions strictly within police control. The accountability components — both for conduct and performance — require government to create dedicated agencies to deal with public complaints against the police and empower security commissions to regularly evaluate police performance. This regime ensures that the executive is charged with laying down broad policing policy and exercises oversight over the service; while the chief of police will have clear authority and command over his/her department. This way, all legal relationships remain intact, but are conditioned and defined. And the new mechanisms assure a workable system of checks and balances.

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