DGPs/IGPs Conference - 2010 (26-Aug-2010)

Addressed by

Shri K.G. Balakrishnan

Chairperson NHRC

My dear colleagues from the Commission, Director Intelligence

Bureau, DGs and IGs of Police of the Central Police Organisations

and State Police, ladies and gentlemen.

I am very happy that an interactive session with the leaders of the

Indian Police at this annual conference has been arranged. It is an

opportunity to appreciate and understand each other’s point of view.

All of us present here have the ultimate objective of implementing the

mandate of our Constitution to secure justice, liberty, equality and

dignity to the people of India. It is, therefore, important that there is

synergy in our efforts and effective results are achieved.

The role of the Police in protecting and promoting the human rights of

the people, in particular, the vulnerable sections of the society, is

extremely challenging in the present scenario of growing violence and

terrorism. The police, as the first point of contact for the victims of

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violations of human rights, have to be sensitive to the plight of the

common man. The diversity of culture, language, custom, and socio-

economic conditions in our country adds to their responsibility.

The National Human Rights Commission of India has been

constituted under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. Section

12 of this Act, among other functions, enjoins upon the Commission

to inquire into violations of human rights or abetment thereof, as also

negligence in the prevention of such violations by public servants.

NHRC has endeavoured to give a positive meaning and content to

the objectives set out in the Act. The Commission has worked

vigorously to create awareness about human rights and to sensitize

public authorities in promoting and protecting the human rights of the

people.

For the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights, the

Commission has taken important initiatives with regard to the issues

concerning Right to health, Right to education, Rights of women,

children, persons with disabilities, displaced persons, and detainees.

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The Commission has also made special efforts in the field of human

rights education and training.

I wish to mention here that in addition to all this, the Commission has

directed its efforts to press for systemic reforms in the police, in the

custodial justice system and indeed the criminal justice system. The

NHRC had made detailed submissions to the Supreme Court in the

matter of Prakash Singh vs. Union of India & others. The Supreme

Court, while delivering the judgement1 in this case on police reforms,

had asked the states to choose any of the models recommended by

NHRC and two other Committees for the constitution of State

Security Commissions. On the request of the Supreme Court, the

NHRC along with others, examined the issue of threats emanating

from international terrorism and organised crimes and submitted its

considered views regarding identification of certain offences as

Federal Crimes and the importance of their investigation by a Central

Agency. The procedure outlined in the NHRC ‘Guidelines for the

Administration of Polygraph Test (Lie Detector Test) on an Accused’

published in 2000 was afforded the force of law by the Supreme

11 (2006) 3 SCC (Crl) 417

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Court in the recent judgment in the case of Smt. Selvi & others vs.

State of Karnataka2 when it was held that “these guidelines should be

strictly adhered to and similar safeguards should be adopted for

conducting the ‘Narcoanalysis technique’ and the ‘Brain Electrical

Activation Profile’ test”, wherever permissible.

As a result of the efforts of the Commission, human rights have been

introduced as part of the training programme for police officers at the

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad.

The States too have now included the subject of human rights in their

police training programmes. However, the Commission feels that

there is a need to further improve the standards of the training and

make sure that the curricula are uniform. After elaborate discussions

with the stakeholders, the NHRC has developed a three-tier model

training syllabus for Constables, Sub-Inspectors, Inspectors, Deputy

Superintendents of Police and other senior officers. The same has

also been circulated to all the States for adoption so that standards of

professional conduct of the police as well as their sensitivity are

enhanced with regard to respecting the human rights of the people

with whom they deal.

2
S.C. Criminal Appeal No.1267 of 2004: Judgment of Full Bench per J.KG Balakrishnan :5-5-10

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The NHRC also assists in sensitizing and imparting training to State

police forces, para-military forces and armed forces in the country.

Debate competitions on human rights issues are organised for the

state police forces and the central police organisations. Similarly,

training programmes/ workshops, seminars and programmes for civil

servants, prison officials, judicial officers and NGOs are organized

throughout the year.

Recently, the Commission and IGNOU have jointly signed an MOU

for developing an online human rights awareness programme for

police personnel. The project will soon be launched, initially as a pilot

project in three Police Training Institutions of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi

and Haryana. Later on the project will be expanded in phases to

cover all the districts of the country.

As enforcers of the law, the police are commonly seen as the trusted

embodiment of law, meant to protect the innocent, find the guilty and

bring them to trial, and promote the means and ends of justice. They

are expected to uphold the rule of law and adhere to its letter and

spirit.

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A common man, when he is a victim of an offence, expects that the

police will listen to his grievance sympathetically and set in motion the

legal machinery to redress his grievance and afford him justice. Once

an FIR is registered, he expects that justice will be delivered through

impartial and competent investigation resulting in a fair trial and

judgement. The citizens also expect the police to provide them a safe

and a secure environment by preventing offences which may cause

gross violations of rights of individuals or communities. The right to

life and to property is a basic human right.

In the fast developing social scenario, social legislation is growing at

a staggering pace. The success of its implementation will depend on

the attitudinal changes in the police. The police are expected to show

special consideration and sensitivity while dealing with cases of

violations of human rights of the weaker sections of our society viz.

women, children scheduled castes & scheduled tribes, persons with

disabilities, and senior citizens.

The expectations from the police are truly enormous. At the same

time, it has to be acknowledged that the delivery of service by the

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police in our country leaves much to be desired. A very large

proportion of the complaints received in the Commission relate to

allegations of violations of human rights by police personnel. In the

last three years, more than a lakh complaints received in the

Commission pertained to allegations of various kinds of violations of

human rights by the police. Majority of these complaints related to

failure to take lawful action, abuse of power, false implication, and

illegal detentions of accused, suspects and their relatives. The

trauma faced by the person, especially the one who has been lifted

just on suspicion or because he happens to be related to someone

wanted by the police, leaves a long lasting impact on the personality

of the victim, nay the character of our society.

The police are the ultimate vanguards of human rights. Two areas,

where police performance besmirches their shining image is that of

complaints of police encounters and custodial violence.

During the past three years, the Commission received 212 complaints

of deaths in alleged ‘fake encounters’ by the police. There are

instances where the complaints of ‘fake encounters’ have been

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substantiated on investigations; leading to the impression that such

encounters have been used for elimination of ‘hard core criminals’

without following the due process of law. In several cases, the

Commission ordered financial relief and other action. These

instances seriously erode the credibility of police. They do not have

impact on the crime situation in terms of acting as a deterrent or

controlling crime. The senior leadership has to give serious thought to

it and guard against a tendency of accepting that such fake

encounters enjoy public support.

I have been informed that 8413 policemen laid down their lives in the

last year, during the course of performance of their duties. Their

supreme sacrifice has been recognised by every section of society. In

fact, the NHRC issued statements condemning the incidents of

violence in which a large number of policemen had died. You will

agree with me that every incident of 'fake encounter' brings a bad

name to our martyr policemen and must be shunned.

So far as the large number of deaths occurring in the course of police

action is concerned, the Commission is conscious of the fact that it is

not possible to completely avoid death in police action; in fact the law
3
Figures published on Police Martyrs Day 21st October 2009.

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itself provides for use of force in certain circumstances as well as the

right to private defence. However, it is very important that the police

action and the subsequent investigation are transparent, to establish

the bonafides of such action. The Commission has, in May 2010,

issued revised guidelines in this regard. Our DG (Investigations) will

make a presentation on this subject. As per the revised guidelines, all

incidents of deaths in police action are now required to be intimated

to the Commission within 48 hours. In the cases of exchange of gun

fire, the guidelines provide for forensic examination of ‘hand wash’ of

the deceased and the ballistics examination of the seized weapons

alleged to have been used by the deceased and his companions.

Another area, which has emerged as an area of serious concern, is

that of custodial violence. It is true that certain offences cannot be

prevented even after best efforts by the police, but the crime of

custodial violence can certainly be prevented by police themselves. I

urge all of you to give serious thought to this issue and provide

leadership to your forces for 'zero-tolerance' for custodial violence.

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All of you, as service providers to the citizens of this country, need to

reflect upon and take stock of the gap between the expectations of

the people from the police and the actual service being delivered to

them. As heads of the police forces, you have to devise ways and

means to reduce this gap and to provide succour to the victims. You

have to reach out to those sections of society who may not be in a

position to raise their voice against exploitation due to ignorance,

backwardness, illiteracy and poor economic conditions.

You have to ensure that, as the very first step, policemen do not,

directly or indirectly, become violators of human rights. Only then they

can act as protectors of human rights. They should be sensitive and

sympathetic to the plight of victims of crime who, many a times, are

from the weaker sections of the society.

Many of the complaints of misbehaviour or ill-treatment by police are

received from the poor, the SCs & STs and other weaker sections of

the society. We need to ensure appropriate training of the police

officers of various ranks in public dealing, during the basic as well as

refresher courses. There can be no alternative to the sensitization

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and continuous training of our policemen so that the human rights of

common people are respected.

The role of senior officers is crucial in our endeavour to protect the

human rights of all the people. It has to be understood that a

misplaced protective approach, towards the acts of omission and

commission by their subordinates, breeds an attitude of impunity,

which is very harmful in long run. They need to ensure that their

subordinates work with the spirit to promote rule of law which alone

can serve as a guarantee against violations of human rights.

As leaders of the police, you need to ensure the welfare and

wellbeing of all the policemen and police officers. The Commission is

alive to ensuring the human rights of the policemen and has

advocated their cause. Guaranteeing the basic human rights of the

police and basic amenities of the service is the best way to motivate

them to discharge the herculean task.

At the heart of all reforms lies the need to create effective

mechanisms of accountability – the transparency and impartiality of

these mechanisms create strength and credibility for the police. In

other words, a democratic country like India needs democratic

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policing. Democratic policing is based on the idea of the police as

protectors of the rights of citizens and the rule of law, while ensuring

the safety and security of all equally. It further requires the police to

create the security environment which best promotes democracy and

good governance.

In conclusion, on behalf of the Commission, I would like to thank the

Director, Intelligence Bureau for arranging this interaction. On behalf

of the Commission, I also appeal to all of you, the Directors General

and the Inspectors General of police to take effective steps, in your

capacity as the leaders of the police, to uphold the human rights of all

the people in India. Implementation of the guidelines issued from time

to time by the Commission on various issues pertaining to the police,

would be of great assistance in this endeavour.

Thank you.

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