Providing an Enabling Environment for Effective Policing - The New Police Act
14 Pages Posted: 14 Dec 2008
Date Written: December 13, 2007
Abstract
The Police Act, 1861 was promulgated nearly a century and half ago. Even though States such as Maharastra, Kerala and others have enacted State Police Acts, they are modeled on the Police Act, 1861 with few changes. To meet the changing societal needs law cannot remain static. Society of today is very much different from the society of the 1800's. To cater to societal needs law must be dynamic and imbibe citizen's aspirations, experiences in implementation and the many challenges of the times. The shortcomings observed over time are to be addressed so that legislation achieves the intended purpose. A review of the existing Act and the promulgation of a new Police Act is the required step forward. With this intent the National Police Commission constituted a Police Act Drafting Committee (PADC) or the Soli Sorabjee Committee consisting of eminent legal luminaries to frame a model Police Act which seeks to replace the archaic Act.
Police functioning has undergone a paradigm change. Focus has shifted from policing to service, from working in isolation to working with the people, from arbitrariness to accountability for actions, from secrecy to transparency. Clearly the time has come to herald change in statute. This paper identifies the drawbacks of the existing Police Act 1861, analyzes the provisions of the Model Police Act and suggests important changes that must be incorporated in the proposed Police Act.
Keywords: Police, Model Police Act, Prakash Singh Case
JEL Classification: K10
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation