Question : “The role played by central and state governments in maintaining law and order is inadequate and unmatched to growing criminalisation”. Comment.
(2005)
Answer : Law and order administration has acquired a new dimension in developing societies because developmental administration needs and requires a stable and orderly society free from internal disturbances.
Law and order is the state subject. Ministry of home affairs heeps a continuous watch on trends and development in law and integrity and also communal harmony. According to seventh schedule in the constitution item I of List II vests in the state the exclusive authority in regard to ‘public order’. Police and public order are, thus state subjects and the centre has no direct operational authority in this sphere. The only fetter on state autonomy in this regard emanates from centre’s directive power.
Unfortunately, the overall law and order situation in the country has in recent years showed considerable deterioration in several spheres. A cursory reading of the daily newspaper is depressing as one reads mostly about growing and rising graph of crime including murders, arson, agitation strikes etc. Rise of terrorist menace is the greatest threat to territorial integrity of the country. Events of growing unrest in Kashmir and North East region is a matter of grave concern.
This threat is not merely of law and order but of also has political dimensions. Rise of communal tension and caste tensions are other major problems which state and central police force are unable to crack down. And thus remains one of the biggest challenges in the present era.
Question : “Criminalisation of politics has been responsible for the problems related to law and order in our nation”.
(2004)
Answer : Criminalisation of politics means direct entry of criminals into the political parties and legislatures, including parliament. It also means the use of criminal methods and tactics to influence political processes and procedures.
Today politics is no longer decent; the hooligans and hoodlums are gaining control of public life. The notorious criminals, history sheeters, smugglers and murderers are swarming in politics, they are prowling in search of prey or plunder. Formerly, they were on the periphery of Indian political life; now they have moved considerably towards the centre to manipulate the gears and leavers of political machine.
Criminalisation of politics has also brought havoc on the administration of criminal justice and the situation today is that it has become most difficult, if not well high impossible, to secure conviction of major culprits guilty like murder, grievous hurt, intimidation and rape because of the political interference into police to procure credible incriminating evidence as may warrant conviction of the culprit in a court of law. In many states, the former history sheeters against whom criminal cases are still pending in the courts of law turned law makers and ministers after winning elections, which has not only seriously jeopardised the legal process but have posed far reaching ethical dilemmas and concerns.
Thus, unwanted elements have acquired considerable political clout seriously jeopardizing the smooth functioning of the administration, and the safety and property of the common man, causing a sense of despair and alienation among the people.
Question : “Criminalization of politics in India has been extended to politicization of criminals”. Comment.
(2003)
Answer : Criminalization of politics and politicization of criminals are the two combined process from which India still suffers. Combined with other factors like politicization of police, it certainly poses a real threat to democracy. Politicians make true use of the services of the anti-social elements. Booth capturing, violence, intimidation and victimization are parts of electoral malpractices.
The weaker section of our electoral is mainly hit by these practices. Fear psychosis on the one hand and economic dependence on the other cumulatively produce the result of depriving the poor electors of their sacred right of franchise. Thus, so long as the removal of fear-psychosis and economic emancipation remain distant goals for them, there is no escape from the deprivation of their electro-right.
There are two types of booth capturing at the time of polls, i.e., silent and violent, both the product of criminality. In a silent booth-capturing, detection of which and effective remedial action are not easy, the voters are given threats of dire consequences.They either forego their right to vote or their votes are impersonated on a large scale by thrusting bunch of ballots papers into the boxes kept at the polling stations.
Criminalization of politics has also wrought have on the administration of criminal justice and the situation today is that it has become most difficult, if not well nigh impossible, to secure conviction of major culprits guilty of offences like murder, grievous hurt, intimidation and rape because of the political interference in the police investigation of the crimes and the consequent inability of the police to procure credible incriminating evidence as may warrant conviction of the culprit in a court of law.
Resultantly such unwanted elements have acquired considerable political clout seriously jeopardizing the smooth functioning of the administration and the safety and property of the common man, causing a sense of despair and alienation among the people.
Question : Do you think that our administration is sensitive to grievances? Discuss the existing grievance redressal mechanism and give suggestions for enhancing its capabilities.
(2000)
Answer : Modern democratic states are characterised by welfare orientation. Hence, the government has come to play an important role in the socio-economic development of the nation. This resulted in the expansion of bureaucracy and the multiplication of administrative process, which in tern increased the administrative power and discretion enjoyed by the Civil Servants at different levels of the government. The abuse of this power and discretion enjoyed by the Civil Servants open up scope for harassment, malpractices, maladministration and corruption. Such a situation gives rise to citizens’ grievances against administration. According to the Chambers dictionary, grievances mean ‘a ground of complaint, a condition felt to be oppressive or wrongful’. The success of democracy and the realisation of socio-economic development depend on the extent to which the citizens’ grievances are redressed. Therefore, the following institutional devices have been created in India to deal with the redressal of these grievances:
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was setup in 1963 by a resolution of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Presently it is under the Ministry of Personnel and enjoys the status of an attached office. The special police establishment (which looked into vigilance cases) setup in 1941 also merged with the CBI.
The CBI is the main investigating agency of the Central Government. It plays an important role in preventing corruption and maintaining integrity in administration. It also provides assistance to the Central Vigilance Commission.
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is the main agency for preventing corruption in the Central Government. It was established in 1964 by an executive resolution of the Central Government. Its establishment was recommended by the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption (1962-64).
Its functions are:
Similarly Lokpal bill was introduced in parliament which was a very comprehensive bill covering P.M and C.M and other Cabinet Ministers and top bureaucrats under its jurisdiction but this bill till now fail to become act or law due to inability or lack of will of political leadership.
On the other hand various states have enacted Lokayukta act to look into the matters of public grievances which take up the cases involving top politicians and bureaucrats in a state.
Inspite of all these mechanism available to redress the citizen grievances against administration, but sill such machinery has failed to fulfill the aspirations of people.
These failure is because of various reasons, one, these machinery are not fully equipped or due to excessive political pressure and most importantly, the normal citizen is not aware of these machinery and they simply fail to file their complaints.
Now, to make these mechanism more active and more responsive towards citizen grievances, it is very essential to provide or to make a move to make people aware of their rights and give proper information regarding availability of these machinery.
People participation should be encouraged in day-to-day administration by making village level panchayats more active and supportive towards administration in implementing development programmes.
Finally, in this modern era the role of civil society can be of immense importance because these non-governmental organisations make people aware and put pressure on administration to perform their duties on proper time and effectively and these NGOs also help government agencies in the implementation of various developmental programmes like Pulse Polio immunization is great example which is very successful because of active and supportive role of these Civil or Non Governmental agencies.
Question : “In the midst of political and socio-economic challenges, the Law and Order administration has become both difficult and delicate.” Explain.
(1999)
Answer : Law and Order administration has acquired a new dimension in our fast changing world especially in the midst of political and socio-economic challenges. In today’s democratic set up the outlook of the police has to be people oriented. But people perceive the Law and Order as being brutal, corrupt and inefficient. Police administration suffers from both political and socio-economic deficiencies. Thus, needs reform in both areas.
Political interference in promotion, posting and transfers is at its height in most of the states in India. These have to be minimized if they cannot be altogether eliminated. Political patronage or lack of it has adversely affected police morale, accountability and culture. To reduce political interference a police board should be set up to advice executive for transfers, posting etc.
Their role, duties, powers and responsibilities have to be redefined based on the present socio-economic and political conditions rather why they were when the Police Act of 1861 was passed. Security to a large number of V.I.Ps, resolving disturbances in educational institutions, traffic, hospitals etc. all have their effect on the quality of real police-work commission rate system in Metro or Big Districts.
Further, qualifications, recruitment, training and scales of pay in lower cadres are outdated – which adversely affect the Law and Order situation. They need to be revised in view of the changing socio-economic conditions. Today police have become a tool of government in power to enforce its political objectives. The law and administration is expected to be people-oriented, especially after 1947. The promotions and transfers are still in the hands of politician. This fact in combination with general degradation of moral values in society has led to biased Law and Order functioning. Common people lost faith in Law and Order administration because of wide discretionary power it poses, the misuse of power is abundant and frequent.
Question : Do you think that the Indian police legislation, structure, technology, attitudes and behaviour are appropriate to meet the Law and Order problems in the country? What fundamental changes would you suggest in these realms to make the Central and the State Police Forces more effective in their role-performance?
(1998)
Answer : Law and Order are very wide terms and it would be tough task to define ‘Order’ as different from ‘Law’ order in the society lies in faithful and peaceful observance of the given law by the citizen.
Law and Order is the state subject. Ministry of Home Affairs keeps a continuous watch on trends and developments in Law and Order and on factors threatening national unity and integrity and also communal harmony.
The Ministry exercised following functions in relation to Law and Order:
State police has staff as well as line functions. Its functions are quite complex and have to be discharged vis-à-vis:
Staff and line functions are performed simultaneously. Some of the staff agencies are operated from the state headquarters and may or may not have field units. The line functions of the state level police administration include implementation of policies pertaining to law and order and detection and investigation of crime with the help of district units. Home Minister, Home Commissioner and their Home Department constitute the civilian wing of the state police. Professional wing has its armed and unarmed wings. GDP is now the chief of the state police, with the assistance of IGS, he participates in the police policy formulation and supervises the line operations. He has wide discretion with regard to financial management and disciplinary matters in his organisation.
Inspector General (IGS) functions through a number of DIGs on territorial or functional basis. DIG, has four to six administrative districts under his jurisdiction. Functional DIGs take care of auxiliary unit e.g. CID, Intelligence Department, Railway Police, Police Training Colleges, etc. DIG range exercises a general supervision over the work of the DSP and the latter look to him for advice. DIG has his own independent hierarchy and functional network depending upon the nature and scope of his operations e.g., DIG (CID) has a horizontal organisation to which finger prints bureau, forensic laboratories of the state and dog squads are attached as subordinate offices.
The policing in India is governed by Indian Police Act (1861). Two main provisions are:
In today’s democratic set up the outlook of the police has to be people-oriented which have not developed yet. People perceive the police as being brutal, corrupt and inefficient. Police administration suffers from both structural and behavioural deficiencies, thus, needs reforms in both areas. The needed reforms are:
Question : “The work of crime prevention has gone down in the priority list of police activities in recent years.” Explain, in this context, the cruciality of prevention of crime.
(1996)
Answer : The Indian Police System is the creation of British Government. The first police commission was appointed in 1860 and based on its recommendations the Police Act 1861 was enacted which imposed a uniform police system.
The maintenance of law and order is the basic function and obligation of a state. Our welfare democracy enhanced the developmental activities of the government. But no developmental and welfare activity can be effectively undertaken unless the foundation of law and order are well laid and well looked after. The importance given to development administration has been mainly responsible for the diminishing priority for law and order. The expectations of the people from the police increased considerably and due to compulsion of socio-economic policy and attendant consequence, many new tasks developed on the police and the traditional functions given less importance.
The police are the front-line organization of the Criminal Justice System, because that is the agency, which is expected to take the first step on behalf of the system to deal with the crime problem.
Advanced Criminology, like advanced Medicine, lays more and more emphasis on prevention. The preventive process needs coordinated attention from three angles – the crime operation end, the victims end and the offender end. Crime arises from the co-existence of a desire to commit crime, side by side with an appreciation that an opportunity to commit such a crime, without let or hindrance, exists. The first two methods aim to make the possible victim and his habitat secure against crime or at least easily defensible against the activities of criminals. Side by the police along, except with the willing cooperation of the people whom they serve. The initiative for this must be taken by police, who are a well-organized public service agency and not by the amorphous mass called the public. The third method envisages removal of causes of crime from the individual and society. Removal of causes of crime to be brought about by the preventive process of education, counselling health delivery and welfare services as well as by the correctional process, following judicial decision, involving reformation rehabilitation and resocialisation.
