How policing is getting choked in the federal structure

The role of the police has been coming into question rather frequently even 79 years after Independence. In recent years, it has faced scrutiny in the country's federal context. Two cases of inter-state actions come to my mind that are instances of blatant violations of the principles of federal policing.Had these merely been cases of friction involving two states, sorting them out would have been easier, for the Union government could have stepped in to mediate and resolve the complexities. Interestingly in recent instances, each time the Centre has been one of the parties to the conflicts.Talking first about the more recent incident. Hardly had the euphoria over the Delhi AI Impact Summit disappeared, on February 25, the Delhi Police was ordered to arrest the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) activists who were involved in the shirtless protest at the summit.A few IYC leaders belong to Himachal Pradesh, which is ruled by the Congress, so the young political workers took shelter there. Without informing the HP Police, a 15-member Delhi police team picked up Saurabh Singh and Arbaaz Khan, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, and Sidharth Avdhut, belonging to Madhya Pradesh, from a remote area Chirgaon in Rohru falling in Shimla district.As they were returning, the HP Police intercepted the Delhi Police team multiple times. A verbal spat over jurisdiction and the due process ensued. The avoidable political drama involving the police forces of Delhi, Haryana and Himachal concluded after the three suspects were remanded to a three-day police custody by the Delhi Chief Judicial Magistrate.Four years earlier, on May 6, 2022, the fracas was between Punjab Police on one hand and a joint Delhi and Haryana Police team on the other. It was indeed an overreach of the Punjab Police at the instance of CM Bhagwant Mann.Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, a Delhi BJP leader, was arrested from his residence in the national capital by the Punjab Police on the complaint of AAP leader Sunny Singh Ahluwalia. The complaint was regarding making provocative statements, promoting religious enmity andcriminal intimidation.As the Punjab Police team was heading towards Mohali with Bagga in their custody, both the Delhi Police and the Haryana Police swung into action. The Delhi Police registered a kidnapping case based on a complaint by Bagga's father; the Haryana Police barricaded the Delhi-Mohali road.The Punjab Police followed none of the administrative and legal protocols. The Haryana and Delhi Police conveniently ignored legal niceties, and brought him back to Delhi.Since both controversies are regarding the police and policing in the federal context, they need to be understood. This is what the United Nations states on policing ‘Although contemporary international standards provide a normative rubric, policing has always been and remains a diverse spectrum of preventive, deterrent and investigative activities carried out by a variety of actors.’The complexities of the police role in local, national and international contexts brought out here are bound by the principles of security (of the people) and justice (to the people), which are administered in each case by a 'legitimate authority'.Moreover, whatever the form of government, the police functions by delineating levels of authority structure. In a federal form of government, this structure is defined first of all between the Union and state governments.The Constitution clearly lays down the authority and responsibility of policing to the states. The basic framework of the law, however, is outlined within the constitutional structure. Thus, the three lists under Article 246 clearly specify policing responsibilities.However, in cases of inter-state policing, the law clearly requires the police to firmly establish an information chain by immediately informing the local police station before effecting arrests or taking any action.The law also mandates that an arrested person be produced before 'the nearest magistrate' and moved either to another or the same jurisdiction only following a 'transit remand'. Any search and seizure by the police must also be done in the presence of two independent witnesses.The two incidents mentioned raise tough questions on the misuse of the police and criminal justice system machinery by political parties in power at the Centre and in states within the tenets of federal policing. This unravels an unlawful precedent in the context of policing by the Union and state governments.The police officers, both belonging to the IPS cadre allotted to the relevant state and of the state cadres, thus, get used to give the procedures of the criminal justice system the go-by and carry out their task of policing entirely on political grounds, violating constitutional principles.In the aforementioned instances, the BJP in power at the Centre and in Haryana and the AAP ruling Punjab, have each crossed the line.Given the circumstances, PM Modi is the most competent and powerful authority to resolve such legal-constitutional tussle, enabled by a reassuring majority.The utility and efficacy of a competent police organisation cannot be overemphasised in Indian democracy.

How policing is getting choked in the federal structure

Without informing the HP Police, a Delhi police team picked up three Youth Congress activists from a remote area, Chirgaon, in Rohru falling in Shimla district

Ajay K Mehra

How policing is getting choked in the federal structure

Without informing the HP Police, a Delhi police team picked up three Youth Congress activists from a remote area, Chirgaon, in Rohru falling in Shimla district

Ajay K Mehra

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