Thuthookudi to Kanpur

Context: Incidents of police misconduct reflected in the Thuthukoodi custodial torture and Kanpur encounter case points towards the dire need of breaking the crime-politics nexus and bring policing reforms.

Issue with the criminal justice system

• Nexus between the criminals, politicians and government functionaries: pointed by Vohra committee 
• Virtually parallel government pushing the state apparatus to irrelevance.
• Criminalisation of Politics: Increasing the percentage of members of parliament having criminal background: 30% in 2009, 34% in 2014 and 43% in 2019. – Association for Democratic Reforms.
• It creates an environment where the criminals who are part of the nexus can dodge the due processes of law.

Steps to be taken:

• Reforming political system: Debar persons with serious criminal cases from entering the Assemblies and the Parliament. 
• Revamp criminal justice system: as recommended by the Malimath Committee. 
• Supreme Court’s directions on police reforms: must be implemented. 
• Monitor the activities of the mafia and criminal syndicates: through an institution comprising representatives of the police/CBI/NIA, IB, Revenue Intelligence, and ED.
• Curb the activities of organised criminal gangs: by enacting a central act on the lines of MCOCA.
• Concept of federal crime: put forth by the 2nd ARC should be accepted

• • Offences which have all-India ramifications or are trans-national should be brought within its ambit.

• Learn lessons from US’s Floyd case : The US-drafted a Bill called the Justice in Policing Act for police reforms which include: 

• Database to track police officers with excessive use of force complaints in their records.
• Financial incentive to adopt best practices 
• Encouraging co-responder programmes with cooperation between social workers and police to respond to non-violent calls.

Conclusion: There is a need to build an environment where police become an instrument of service to the people, where social monsters/criminals do not thrive and become a menace to society.