The police will no longer be able to use the habitual excuse of political interference, but will have to put their house in order and provide the service that is so lacking today. The world over, police autonomy and accountability go hand in hand. The two principles must be thought of as two sides of the same coin: police autonomy must be tempered by robust accountability, and accountability can only be robust if the police are not able to pass the buck for misconduct or poor performance. The idea that greater autonomy implies greater authority is a misconception. Greater autonomy is welcome only if accompanied by strong mechanisms to hold the police accountable.

A real relief to the public will be the setting up at the district level of a complaints body. Redress for serious acts of misconduct can become routine rather than exceptional. Complaints against police personnel in cases of death, grievous hurt or rape in police custody as well as cases of serious abuse of authority will be handled at a local level by an agency that is designed to be independent of the police, and equipped with the power to make binding recommendations. This will surely build public confidence. This in no way supplants the chain of command, as the police will continue to inquire into the majority of complaints. The role of the new body is to plug the lapse of police supervisors who did not prevent such grievous acts of misconduct from occurring in the first place, requiring independent oversight to step in.

... contd.