Police raj

The police force plays to the gallery,provoking serious questions about law enforcement and liberty

The police force plays to the gallery,provoking serious questions about law enforcement and liberty

A Delhi court minced no words while lecturing the city police for the flimsiness of the grounds on which they charged S. Sreesanth and others accused in the IPL spot-fixing case of involvement with Dawood Ibrahims organised crime syndicate. But it is doubtful that the reprimand will lead to a sober rethink by the police on the manner in which they pursue investigations. In fact,the courts observations may have come as no surprise to the Delhi Police they must have known,as did the most casual observer,that invocation of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act was laughable. No matter. Because police forces around the country appear to have long given up the struggle to fight the temptation of playing to the gallery and the media and sensationalising cases beyond any alignment with the leads in hand.

The Delhi Police are not an isolated example. Look at their Mumbai counterparts,who have arrested Suraj Pancholi,an aspiring actor,for allegedly abetting the suicide of actor Jiah Khan. Given that the charge can be levelled on frivolous grounds,the onus should be on the police to substantiate arrests with solid reasons for treating someone as a suspect. Khans death may yet prove to be more than a case of depression-driven suicide. Sreesanth and others accused in the spot-fixing case may yet be held liable for violating the law of the land. But the free and easy widening of the dragnet,accompanied by glib moralising,by the police must provoke serious questions about liberty as well as law enforcement. This trend,as seen in its textbook form in the Aarushi Talwar case,is made up of rolling with a well-rounded narrative even freely fantasising and amending it as the facts may emerge.

In cases that acquire a high profile or involve folks with means,as the above-mentioned do,at least the police are forced to look foolish later and amend their approach somewhat. What of the countless investigations that take place below the radar of media and judicial oversight? What of the infringement of individual liberty and damage to reputations? The line between a sincere investigation that may not yield conviction and one that is irresponsibly sensationalised is,of course,difficult to determine. But it is a distinction that our police force must be made to internalise.