Democratic system will collapse if police reforms are not carried out, says former IPS officer Prakash Singh
Prakash Singh was addressing a discussion around his book 'The Struggle for Police Reforms in India: Ruler's Police to People's Police' in Panchkula.
3 min read
Former IPS officer Prakash Singh (Express photo)Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Prakash Singh has said that the democratic system will collapse if the police reforms are not carried out and the force continues to work in the colonial model.
Addressing an event in Panchkula discussing his book ‘The Struggle for Police Reforms in India: Ruler’s Police to People’s Police’, Prakash Singh, who fought a long legal battle for police reforms in the country, said on Tuesday: “The beginning of police reforms goes back to 1902… The point here is that in 120 years nothing has changed. Is it not a matter of shame for us? If the Britishers did not change, you can’t blame them but why have you not changed? It’s a reflection on all of us- lawyers, police officers, bureaucrats, politicians, judiciary. And we know that this is a colonial construct which has been given to us and we are not prepared to check it because the politicians in power think that it suits them, they can use it, abuse it and misuse it. And therefore, this system continues. If you want good detection of crime, if you want good law and order, then there is no escaping from having police reforms.”
The 86-year-old, who served as the chief of the Uttar Pradesh and Assam police as well as the Border Security Force, further said: “Why do we need reforms? One for law and order and the second for handling internal security challenges. We take pride in being the fastest growing economy. If you want to sustain the momentum of economic progress, you have to have good law and order. And if you want to have good law and order, you must have reforms.”
The Commissionerate of Police, Panchkula, and Legal Awareness and Free Legal Aid Women Society organised the event. Apart from Prakash Singh, Justice (retd) KS Grewal, Justice (retd) Nawab Singh and senior advocate Anupam Gupta also addressed the event.
Punjab chief information commissioner Suresh Arora, Haryana chief Information commissioner Vijay Vardhan and deputy director of Institute of Correctional Administration Upneet Lalli were among the panel as Punjab Human Rights Commission director-general Praveen K Sinha moderated the session.
Former IPS officer Prakash Singh with Justice (retd) KS Grewal and Justice (retd) Nawab Singh in Panchkula. (Express photo)
On this occasion, Panchkula Commissioner of Police Hanif Qureshi insisted that it was not fair to say that nothing changed in the functioning of the police in all these years. Qureshi referred to the online registration of first information reports (FIR) which has put a check on tampering related to dates. The officer also pointed out how the police modernised its functioning by introducing projects like Dial-112.
After his retirement from the police force, Prakash Singh in 1996 filed a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking police reforms. In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court in September 2006 directed all states and Union territories to bring in police reforms. The ruling issued a series of measures that were to be undertaken by the governments to ensure the police could do their work without worrying about any political interference.
You May Like
Photos
