HC raps govt for leaving cops ‘poorly armed’

During the hearing on Tuesday, the HC bench of Justices V M Kanade and Anuja Prabhudessai said the state government should revise its weapons policy every three years. “… It is unfortunate that the 2010 policy has not been revised despite the fact that 26/11 terror attacks took place in 2008 and various attacks have taken place thereafter,” the court said.

During 26/11, it was because of lack of bullet-proof jackets that policemen lost their lives, it said.

The court also asked public prosecutor Sandip Shinde for an “urgent intervention” as there still existed a “threat perception”.

“Day in day out we pass judgments and strictures against police for not investigating cases properly, but if the state is not doing anything for them (police), we cannot expect anything in return,” said the division bench.

Senior lawyer Anil Anturkar, who appeared for the petitioner, told the court that the police personnel had to survive on meagre incentives by the state. He said while a food allowance of Rs 840 was given to police inspectors every month, constables were getting Rs 700. Besides, a monthly incentive of Rs 250 was being given to constables and inspectors, which worked out to just Rs 8 a day.

Hearing this, the court said, “One does not even get a vada pav for Rs 8 nowadays.”

Shinde conceded that a policy revision was needed and said modern weaponry was being made available to the police force.

He said while 7.62 self-loading rifles (SLRs) were being provided to 40 per cent of the force, shotguns were being given to 30 per cent and while the rest 30 per cent would be armed with 9 mm pistols.

In the end, the court said, “We expect that a committee is constituted by the Director General of Police so the process of revision of weapons policy starts and is completed expeditiously.”

Observing that the police were facing “new challenges”, the court asked the state to provide adequate training every two years to police personnel.  An allowance of Rs 250 is inadequate and needs to be revised with immediate effect, it said.

aamir.khan@expressindia.com