Building faith in India’s investigative agencies

News: According to the CJI remarks, the institutions including the police and the investigative agencies are losing the public trust and social legitimacy. Their reputation has eroded due to allegations of corruption, police excesses, lack of impartiality and close nexus with the political class.

What are the issues affecting the investigative agencies?

The lack of infrastructure, lack of modern equipment, lack of accountability of erring officers, lack of sufficient manpower, and inhuman conditions, especially at the lowest rung are some of the pertinent problems.

There is a change in priorities with the change in the political executive, and repeated transfers of officers are some of the issues that lead to delays in trials. These issues often lead to the acquittal of the guilty and incarceration of the innocent. This severely affects the public trust in the system.

The investigative agencies still do not have the benefit of being guided by a comprehensive law.

There is an issue of multiplicity of agencies. Multiple agencies are investigating the same incident or criminal offence. It leads to dilution of evidence, prolonged incarceration of innocents etc.

In general, the female class do not report certain offences to the police machinery due to a lack of representation of women in the institutions.

The police officers are harassed after the change in the regime. But upright officers find it difficult to stand by their oath.

What steps can be taken to usher in police reform in India?

First, the police officers should break the nexus with the political executive. They should build robust and independent institutions. As a response, the political executive will change with time.

The best of talents who enter this system should learn that they should stand by their ethics and stand united with integrity, no matter how deficient and non-cooperative the other institutions are.

Second, The police and investigative agencies should win the trust of the public in order to gain social legitimacy.

Third, police should work to ensure law and order and crime prevention. It should work impartially and with the cooperation of the public.

Fourth, The need of the hour is the creation of an independent and autonomous investigative agency. For example, a statutory and an independent umbrella institution for various agencies like the CBI, SFIO, and ED can be created.

The law should clearly define its powers, functions and jurisdictions. It should be headed by an independent and impartial authority appointed by a non-partisan committee akin to the one which appoints the Director of the CBI.

The umbrella organisation will end the multiplicity of proceedings. Once an incident is reported, the organisation should decide as to which specialised wing should take up the investigation.

A separate and autonomous wing for prosecution and investigation can be set up under the umbrella organisation.

A reasonable check and balance can be introduced by instituting an annual audit of the performance of the institution.

This umbrella investigative body can be suitably adapted by the states because the police and public order is a state subjects.

Fifth, there is a need for regular up-gradation of knowledge, deployment of state-of-the-art technology, and international exchange programmes to learn the best practices.

Sixth, encouraging the presence of women personnel in the policing system will encourage hesitant women victims to approach the criminal justice system and report crimes.

Seventh, the relations between the community and police can be fixed. This can be done by including sensitisation workshops, and interactions with the public to inspire public confidence during the police training modules.

Source: The post is based on the article “Building faith in India’s investigative agencies” published in the Indian Express on 02^nd April 2022.