JAMIA MILIA ISLAMIA

FACULTY OF LAW

CRIMINOLOGY,
PENOLOGY&
VICTIMOLOGY

POLICE SYSTEM IN INDIA & ITS PROBLEM IN MODERN ERA

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY
PROF. RASHEED C.A. MOHD GULAM GAUS

B.A. LL. B. (Hons.) Self-Finance, Sem-V

Student Id -20185481
Batch of ‘23”
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to acknowledge the beneficence of Prof. RASHEED C.A in his guidance
throughout the course of completion of this project. It is for this reason I was able to advocate
this work with resources informative as much as concise.

Likewise, I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to friends and
family for enhancing my emotional well-being and providing with financial sufficiency to
ensure I would not have to cobble for resources in my quest of penning down this work.

Lastly, may it be known that THE ALMIGHTY is the reason above all for the good deeds
found herein.

PRAISE BE TO THY LORD, ONE AND ALL, THE ALMIGHTY.

Mohammad Gaus

Student ID:20185481

B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), Sem-V

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INDEX

1) INTRODUCTION
2) POLICE FORCE IN INDIA
3) PROBLEMS IN MODERN ERA
i) POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
ii) INFRASTRUCTURE
iii) CRIME INVESTIGATION
iv) VACCANCIES IN FORCES

4) MODERNISATION OF POLICE FORCES

5) INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
6) SOLUTION TO TACKLE PROBLEMS
7) CONCLUSION
8) BIBLIOGRAPHY

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INTRODUCTION

Police primary duty is to safeguard the lives and property of the citizens and protect them against
violence, intimidation, oppression and disorder1.The ultimate objective of these forces is to maintain
Rule of Law which is indispensable attribute of a democratic State.
Police force has been in existence in India in one form to another from the very ancient times. The
indigenous system of police in India was organized on the basis of collective responsibility pf village
community. The law and order in the village was maintained through the village headman who was
assisted by one or more village watchmen. Even in ancient history of India reveals that there was well
organized police force during the reign of Hindu rulers, Gupta dynasty was particularly known for
excellent law and order system through well maintained Police System. Police function could entrusted
with only those who are well acquainted with the local people and are dedicated to the cause of
protection of society against law violators.
It is evident that police has to play a dominant role in administration of criminal justice. Police force has
been an indispensable appendage of the State organization in almost all the civil societies of the world.
Only the person proven ablity and those having through knowledge of local region and its people were
recruited in the police force so that they tackle the problem of law enforcement efficiently.

1
Raghavan R.K: Policing in Democracy: Comparitive Study in India & US(1993) pg.9
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POLICE FORCE IN INDIA

The ancient history of India further reveals that there was a well organized police force during the reigns
of ancient Hindu rulers..The Gupta dynasty in ancient India was particularly known for its excellence in
law and order situation through a well organized system of police. The chief of the police force was
called “Mahadandadhikari”. He had a number of subordinate officers called “Dandahikari” to assist him.
Later on during the reign of Harshavardhan,these functions were discharged by the officials called
‘Sandik’ ‘Chowrodharnik’ and ‘Dandapashik’ who were responsible for the maintenance of law and
order in the districts, towns and villages.
The law and order of the village system was controlled by the village headmen and he was responsible
for the protection of the village as he was given the duty to note down all the unknown stranger of the
village.The Moghul rulers in India also has a well organized police force for maintaining law and order
in society. This system was, however different from the earlier one. The police official was called
“Fauzdar” was incharge of entire police force with a number of subordinate police officials working
under them. During the closure of the Mughal Empire, the military exploits of the emperor put the police
administration into oblivion, and the rulers had to pay heavily for this neglect

PROBLEMS IN MODERN ERA

Police force being the spine of any civil society should be first and foremost has the trust of the
citizens because if there is no regard for the police for there are perfect chances for a civil war.
The Indian Police force is lacking at many fronts and needs reforms and rejuvenation in order to
cope up with the fast growing crimes in the country. There are many ways through which there
can a complete overhaul of the police machinery and make it more efficacious.
Although there are many ways in which the system can be transformed but one of the major
problems which needs attention is the area of capacity building through technology and tackling
crime and investigation through new technologies like the west has done it.

Firstly one of the major problem is with the capacity of the police force which is very less there
are many states and union territories which have large number of vacancies at different levels. In
order to tackle the problem of capacity and effectiveness United States government has tied it
with COMPSTAT which is computer statistics, which locates the number of crimes in a
particular locality and help the department transfer the best trained personnel to those areas. In
this way, area-wise crime reports studied and analysed and thus the counter-plan for eliminating
crime is prepared.

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Improvement in the Information Technology infrastructure will help the investigating
department to tackle the crimes in a much more simpler and easy manner. The creation of IT
infrastructure would help in tracking cases to tackle delays which lead to mounting pendency.
Investment in management techniques, building criminal databases would help reduce the crime
rate at a very fast pace.

Also one of the other important areas which needs change is the complaints against police
officers and their investigation, these should be done by independent bodies which have no
political as well as police interference only the crime against innocent citizens would reduce.
Because the departmental investigation and proceedings are biased and partial in some way or
the other there is need for the an independent statutory authority which is capable of conducting
investigations in complaint against police and also has penalising power of suspending or
removing an officer for misconduct.

POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY

Police forces have the authority to exercise force to enforce laws and maintain law and order in a
state. However, this power may be misused in several ways. For example, in India, various kinds of
complaints are made against the police including complaints of unwarranted arrests, unlawful searches,
torture and custodial rapes.3, To check against such abuse of power, various countries have adopted
safeguards, such as accountability of the police to the political executive, internal accountability to senior
police officers, and independent police oversight authorities.

Accountability to the political executive vs operational freedom

Both the central and state police forces come under the control and superintendence of the political
executive (i.e., central or state government). 9, The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2007)
has noted that this control has been abused in the past by the political executive to unduly influence
police personnel, and have them serve personal or political interests. This interferes with professional
decision-making by the police (e.g., regarding how to respond to law and order situations or how to
conduct investigations), resulting in biased performance of duties.

CRIME INVESTIGATION

A core function of the state police forces and some central police agencies like the CBI is crime
investigation. Once a crime occurs, police officers are required to record the complaint, secure the
evidence, identify the culprit, frame the charges against him, and assist with his prosecution in court so
that a conviction may be secured. In India, crime rate has increased by 28% over the last decade, and the

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nature of crimes is also becoming more complex (e.g., with emergence of various kinds of cybercrimes
and economic fraud). Conviction rates (convictions secured per 100 cases) however have been fairly
low. In 2015, the conviction rate for crimes recorded under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 was 47%. The
Law Commission has observed that one of the reasons behind this is the poor quality of investigations.

Crime investigation requires skills and training, time and resources, and adequate forensic capabilities
and infrastructure. However, the Law Commission and the Second Administrative Reforms Commission
have noted that state police officers often neglect this responsibility because they are understaffed and
overburdened with various kinds of tasks. Further, they lack the training and the expertise required to
conduct professional investigations. They also have insufficient legal knowledge (on aspects like
admissibility of evidence) and the forensic and cyber infrastructure available to them is both inadequate
and outdated. In light of this, police forces may use force and torture to secure evidence. Further, while
crime investigations need to be fair and unbiased, in India they may be influenced by political or other
extraneous considerations. In light of these aspects, experts have recommended that states must have
their own specialized investigation units within the police force that are responsible for crime
investigation. These units should not ordinarily be diverted for other duties.

POLICE INFRASTRUCTURE

Modern policing requires a strong communication support, state-of-art or modern weapons, and
a high degree of mobility. The CAG and the BPRD have noted shortcomings on several of
these fronts.

Weaponry:

The CAG has found that weaponry of several state police forces is outdated, and the acquisition
process of weapons slow, causing a shortage in arms and ammunition. An audit of the Rajasthan
police force (2009 to 2014) concluded that there was a shortage of 75% in the availability of
modern weapons against the state’s own specified requirements. The same audit also found that
even when weapons were procured, a large proportion of them (59%) were lying idle because
they had not been distributed to the police stations. Similar audits in West Bengal and Gujarat
found shortages of 71% and 36% respectively in required weaponry.

Police vehicles:

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Audits have noted that police vehicles are in short supply.42 New vehicles are often used to
replace old vehicles, and there is a shortage of drivers. This affects the response time of the
police, and consequently their effectiveness. As of January 2015, state forces had a total of
1,63,946 vehicles, marking a 30.5% deficiency against the required stock of vehicles (2,35,339
vehicles).

Police Telecommunication Network (POLNET):

The POLNET project was initiated by the central governed in 2002 to connect the police and
paramilitary forces of the country through a satellite based communication network, that will be
significantly faster than the existing system of radio communications. However, audits have
found that the POLNET network is non-functional in various states. For example, an audit of the
Gujarat police force reported that the network had not been operationalised till October 2015
due to non-installation of essential infrastructure, such as remote subscriber units and generator
sets. The audit also noted that there were 40%-50% vacancies in key segments of trained
personnel, such as radio operators and technicians, needed to operate the equipment.

MODERNISATION OF POLICE FORCES

In India, police and law and order come under the purview of state governments. Accordingly,
each state has its own police force for maintaining law and order and investigating
crimes. However, due to financial and other constraints, states have critical gaps in their
policing infrastructure.2 Figure 1 shows the expenditure by states on police, as a percentage of
their total budget. In 2015-16, Manipur spent the highest proportion of its state budget on
police, followed by Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has been supplementing resources of states under the
Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF) scheme. The Union Cabinet last week approved the
implementation of an umbrella scheme of MPF and has allocated funding of Rs 25,060 crore for

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the 2017-18 to 2019-20 period. In light of this decision, we present the key features of the
scheme and examine other issues related to the police forces.

Modernisation of Police Forces scheme

The MPF scheme was initiated in 1969-70 and has undergone several revisions over the
years.2 It was allocated Rs 11,946 crore for the period between 2012-13 to 2016-17, which has
now been doubled after last week’s Cabinet approval. Funds from the MPF scheme are typically
used for improving police infrastructure through construction of police stations and provision of
modern weaponry, surveillance and communication equipment. Upgradation of training
infrastructure, police housing and computerisation are also important objectives funded through
the scheme.

Following the recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission, to increase the

share of central taxes to states, it was decided that the MPF scheme would be delinked from
central funding from 2015-16 onwards. States were expected to finance the scheme using their
own resources. However, of the recent allocation made by the Cabinet, Rs 18,636 crore will
come from the central government and Rs 6,424 crore will come from the states. 3 This implies
that the centre will fund almost 75% of the scheme.

Underutilisation of Funds
Data from the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) shows that funds have not
been fully utilised under the MPF scheme. In the year 2015-16, out of a total grant of Rs 9,203
crore that was made available for modernisation, states utilised only Rs 1330 crore (14%).Over
this period, there has been a consistent underutilisation of funds by states. On average, states
spent 55% of the funds allocated to them, with the highest being 86% utilisation in 2013-14.

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE POLICE

The police problems and functioning have occasionally been discussed in International forum
from time to time. The second United Nations Congress on the prevention of the crime and
treatment of the Offenders,London,1960 discussed in a great detail special Police Services for
prevention of delinquency.
A variety of programmes have been developed in Anglo-American countries for training police
for prevention of juvenile delinquency. The International Criminal Police Organisation, the
International Federation of Senior Police Officers and the International Association of Chiefsof
Police have been made important suggestion bearing on police training

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India being a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, it has ratified as
many as thirteen international instrument on human rights,but it has not yet ratified convention
against custodial torture contained in the second optional Protocol.
It is however heartening to note that introduction of the electronic video linkage in recent years
has eased the burden on the police to a considerable extent. The NHRC has appreciated this
measure as the police will no longer be required to accompany the undertrials to the Magistrate
court every fifteen day for extending their remand period.In other words, remand prisoners
would not be required to be physically produced before the Magistrate.

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SOLUTION TO TACKLE PROBLEMS

The Police Act,1861 was fairly comprehensive and almost half of it dealt with matters such as
police powers with regard to public assemblies, punishment for certain kind of offences on road,
and definition of important legal terms used in the Act. However, the Act did not conceive the
police force as service organization and no structural changes were introduced in the police
administration under the Act.

MODEL POLICE ACT, 20062

The central government set up the Police Act Drafting Committee (Chair: Soli Sorabjee) in 2005 to draft
a new model police law that could replace the Police Act, 1861. The committee submitted the Model
Police Act in 2006, which was circulated to all the states in 2006. 17 states (Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,
Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab,
Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand) passed new laws or amended their existing laws
in light of this new model law.

DIRECTION GIVEN BY SUPREME COURT IN PRAKASH SINGH VS UNION OF INDIA

Directions: In September 2006, the court issued various directions to the centre and states including:

 Constitute a State Security Commission in every state that will lay down policy for police
functioning, evaluate police performance, and ensure that state governments do not exercise
unwarranted influence on the police.

 Constitute a Police Establishment Board in every state that will decide postings, transfers and
promotions for officers below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police, and make
recommendations to the state government for officers of higher ranks.

2
Model Police Act, 2006; Unstarred Question No. 1451, Lok Sabha, May 3, 2016; PRS.

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 Constitute Police Complaints Authorities at the state and district levels to inquire into allegations
of serious misconduct and abuse of power by police personnel.

 Provide a minimum tenure of at least two years for the DGP and other key police officers (e.g.,
officers in charge of a police station and district) within the state forces, and the Chiefs of the
central forces to protect them against arbitrary transfers and postings.

 Ensure that the DGP of state police is appointed from amongst three senior-most officers who
have been empanelled for the promotion by the Union Public Service Commission on the basis
of length of service, good record and experience.

 Separate the investigating police from the law and order police to ensure speedier investigation,
better expertise and improved rapport with the people.

 Constitute a National Security Commission to shortlist the candidates for appointment as Chiefs
of the central armed police forces.

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CONCLUSION

Despite the new democratic, secular, socialistic, welfare and humanitarian values vouched in
the constitution, the Indian police, by and large, follows the philosophy of para-militarism
associated with the mechanism of the awe, threat and coercion. In other words, the
democratic philosophy of the constitution hardly gets reflected in the organization of Indian
Police. Modern Police is primarily concerned with detection and investigation of crime and
apprehending criminals by making arrests. They are thus concerned with the protection of
society against crimes and safeguarding the person and the property of the people. The police
also deal with juvenile delinquents and enforcement of a variety of Acts and regulation such
as licensing, sanitation, civil defense etc.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books & Blogs

Criminology&Penology by Prof. N.V.Paranjape, Central Law Publication Eighteen Edition

Census, 2011, Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs.
Report of Working Group on Migration, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, January

Websites

https://www.prsindia.org/theprsblog/definition-msmes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Police_Service

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