Police Atrocities and Quest for Justice
Police Atrocities and Quest for Justice
- Yukta Singh, Lloyd Law College, Greater Noida.
Police Atrocities is the unfair and savagely violent use of power by the police. The treatment of police nowadays are not as per the standard of a democratic nation. The citizens are treated without dignity and calmness. In the democratic country like India, the information about police atrocity in necessary to report as it explains about the basic disputes arising from policing. Thus, this article focuses on the meaning and scopes of police atrocity. It also focuses on the misuse of power and the complaints of citizens against the police authority.
The recent reports shows a exponential increase in incidence of police atrocities all over India. Catapulted by the June 2020 incident of brutal custodial torture and killings of Jayaraj and Bennix in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. The article covers the topics of physical and excessive force by the police, the state of India in which police brutality is highest, the human rights violation, and the several incidents created by police authority.
Introduction:-
The atrocities of police is the misuse of power or brutality by the police authority. The Police Act, 1862 mentions the powers attributed to the authority in India. The primary obligation set for the police was to serve and protect the nation from hazardous elements of the society. Since Independence till now, the respectful reputation of police authority has been lost in the fumes of crime.
The use of excessive physical force exercised by the authority demoralized the belief of citizens from the government. Police atrocity was a nature of British government and somehow the culture is still present in this modern society. Police atrocity is known as the civil rights violation of citizens by the authority with misuse of force”.
Police :-
The term ‘police’ is not yet known in legal provisions of the criminal procedure code (CrPC) and the Police Act, 1861. The act mentions only the rights and duties of the authority in India. The definition of ‘Police’ can be the department of government which has the authority of perversion of public order and detection of crime for the safety of citizens. The simple definition of police is any person or group of person developed by the state whose obligation is to maintain law and order, prevention, detection, punishment and investigation of crime. Police represents the civil authority of government and its functions is known as policing.
The Police Act, 1861 :-
This act was enacted on 22nd March, 1861 and it is in the department of internal security. The act consists of the rights, duties and obligations of the police towards the nation. The duty of the police under this act is to obey and execute all obligations and regulations issued by any competent authority. The act confers the Superintendent of Police under the State government powers. There are total 46 sections in the Police Act, 1861. The Police Act of 1861 was legislated by the British after the revolt of 1857 often known to as the first war of independence. It was the first and foremost organized rebellion against the rule of the British and the East India Company. The Police force came into existence as a means of crushing dissent and not as a democratic move. This remained in practice even after years of Independence.
The Indian Police Act, 1861 defines that “When a person or persons is the victim of the misuse of power exercised by the police authorities due to the wrongful duty or willful breach or ignorance of rules and regulations, then the concerned authority will be liable under Section 29 of Indian Police Act, 1861.
Human Rights Violations by the Police :-
The atrocity of police to the persons in custody tarnishes the reputation of police. The rights given to the citizens such as Right to Equality, Right to Speech and Expression, Right to Freedom, Right to Information, and Right to Life is against the atrocities of police. It is been provided in Indian Constitution that ‘no person can be deprived of any fundamental rights as these are considered as the birth rights of a person’. There are several rights and powers for the authorities which an ordinary person is incapable to access. The powers of police and the fundamental rights can never come into conflict as it automatically challenging the Constitution of India.
Police Brutality as a phenomenon is not foreign to India. According to National Campaign against Torture report, The National Human Rights Commission of India recorded 1681 cases of custodial deaths in the year 2020. Out of these, 1569 deaths took place in judicial custody and 110 deaths took place in police custody.
Precisely, police officers exercises immense power. But there is misuse of these powers by violating the rights of the ordinary people such as Stamping on bare body with heeled boots, Assaulting with cane on spine, Fake Encounters, Inserting electric wires in the body parts, Burning the body with cigarettes and its flame, Custodial Assault, Fake evidence, Wrongful detention, Extortion, False imprisonment, Coerced false confession, Intimidation, Witness tampering, Police perjury, Unwarranted searches, Unwarranted surveillance, Police corruption, Racial profiling, Unwarranted seizure of the property of people, are the few examples of misuse of power exercised by the Police and the violation of rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) provides Right to Life, Liberty and Security. Article 3, 5 and 9 imposes restrictions of the torture, arbitrary arrest or detention and protection to every citizen.
Uttar Pradesh and Atrocities of Police :-
Between the period of 2014-2020, approximately 986 cases of police atrocity is been registered in Uttar Pradesh, India. Uttar Pradesh was followed by Delhi were 278 cases were registered against the authority of police. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Uttar Pradesh registered a total 986 cases of Human Rights violations by the Police between 2014 and 2020.Total 1153 cases of police atrocities was registered in the country during this period, with 73.4 percent of the cases registered by Uttar Pradesh alone. The conviction rate of such cases of atrocities done by the police officers is dismal as only 9 of them has been convicted between 2014-2020.
Although the Supreme Court, in light of such incidents, has attempted to place checks and balances mechanism in situ through the historic judgment of Prakash Singh Vs. Union of India in 2006 by arising with 7 directives for fixing the State Security Commission to get down broad policies and provides directions to stop the abuse of power by police and as a part of these directives, the court also directed the setting up of institutions.
The thing to be observed is, according to a study by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in 2018 reported that only 18 states have enacted the new police act since 2006.
Although there is sort of judicial involvement that one can rely on but within the system, it seems like there are no systems of accountability and checks and although one can invoke judicial powers during this regard but that also are very sporadic.
Conclusion :-
The purpose of a police force in a free society is to promote public safety and uphold the order of law so that individual liberty may flourish. To advance these goals given to the Police Department in India, there should be trust and accountability between the public and the authorities.
The ordinance passed by the Supreme Court nearly 14 years ago, did not spark the outrage of the sort as in the hideous police brutality incident happened in the United States. Brutality of the police has become a daily occurrence in India.
The hideous police brutality that shocked the United States is a daily occurrence in India, but unfortunately it does not spark outrage of the sort that can turn the system on its head and jumpstart reforms as ordained by the Supreme Court of India nearly 14 years ago. There should be a rage in the society for such cases and brutality of the authorities to curb the injustice against weaker sections of Indian culture.
References :-
1.Saumaya Uma, ‘Police Atrocities’ < https://www.epw.in/journal/2020/50/insight/police-atrocities-and-quest-justice.html > accessed 21 July, 2021
2.G.P.Joshi, ‘Police Accountability in India’ < https://humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/aj/police/papers/gpj/police_accountability_in_india.pdf > accessed 19 July, 2021
3.Prakash Singh & Ors vs Union Of India, 2006 < https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1090328/ > accessed on 20 July, 2021
4.Prithipal Singh Etc vs State of Punjab & Anr. Etc, 2011 < https://indiankanoon.org/doc/342168/ > accessed on 19 July, 2021
5.Central Bureau Of Investigation vs The State Of West Bengal & Ors, 2019 < https://indiankanoon.org/doc/74707369/ > accessed on 16 July, 2021
6.Ramanand Ramnath vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh, 1996 < https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1427319/ > accessed on 16 July, 2021
