Constables to senior cops, men and women in uniform ignoring Punjab DGP’s orders against ‘modelling’ on social media

However, the order has had little impact as police officials continue to post short videos and reels that often have hit Punjabi songs playing in the background. While women police officers are seen performing catwalks in uniform, men take to putting up videos in which they strut around like a ‘boss’ or lip-sync to popular Punjabi music, all of which win them hundreds or even thousands of followers online.

Interestingly, while the Punjab Police’s official Instagram handle has 76,000 followers, the ‘Punjab_police_women2’ Instagram account – which claims to be the official government account – has over 80,000 followers. Several such pages feature glamorous reels of police officials, and garner thousands of reactions and comments.

What more, many police officers have even been using their personal pages to upload reels that show them at work, sometimes even inside the office. Songs by slain singer Sidhu Moosewala – after whose death the state government had faced much criticism – are among the popular tracks that feature as the background music of several such videos.

A plea moved by advocate Nikhil Saraf in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against such reels is yet to be listed. In response to a previous petition by him, the Additional Secretary (Home) of the Punjab government had written to the office of the state DGP to pass directions to all police officials to desist from the unauthorised use of the official Punjab Police emblem on social media and other forums.

Following this, the DGP’s office on May 22, 2022, issued a letter to all police heads in the state which read, “Police officials are to be further instructed to desist from bringing disrepute and insult to the uniform by ‘modelling in uniform’ for publicity and by publishing objectionable-pictures on their social media accounts and other such forms. In view of the above, it is requested to inform and direct the offices under your command to comply with the instructions meticulously. If any official is found violating the instructions, action will be initiated as per relevant rules.”

The petitioner Saraf has alleged that the officers misuse the uniform for self-glorification on social media. Speaking to The Indian Express, he said, “Due to unchecked degradation among the rank and file of the state police, fake social media accounts have been propagated and endorsed by the officials of the state police and their close associates. It can be seen that many of these social media accounts on Instagram use the emblem of the state police and even claim to be official accounts of the Punjab Police.”

“Despite knowing very well that such accounts are fake, state police officials are publishing and circulating their pictures on such platforms. Such blatant endorsement of fake social media accounts cannot be seen as inadvertent or an oversight. These fake social media accounts have also published pictures of very senior police officials,” he added.

Saraf pointed out that the uniform has been given to police officials to carry out “a particular set of duties, which require the highest level of probity, discipline, fairness, and accountability. However, police officials’ reels in uniform on social media seek self-glorification and are filled with a very perverse sense of entitlement and authority, making oneself look superior to ordinary citizens.”

The petition also mentions that the Ministry of Defence under the Government of India has banned Army personnel from using social networking platforms, and the Ministry of Communication and Technology banned 89 Chinese apps for security reasons. The Union Home Ministry has also issued similar guidelines, prohibiting paramilitary officials from publishing pictures in uniform on social media platforms.

“Additional Inspector General Gaurav Toora IPS had submitted an affidavit on behalf of the Punjab DGP in the high court saying that they had issued an advisory to the police force against the use of the police emblem on social media. However, it seems no one is following the advisory of the DGP,” Saraf pointed out.

When contacted, Toora declined to react on whether social media influencers have been using the police uniform or emblem for online videos against the DGP’s directions. “Ask this under RTI. We will reply,” he said. There is an Instagram account under his name as well.