Tamilnadu Police Brutality is a Big Question Mark on Indian Legal System
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Police are the savior of the common people. It is their duty is to protect the people from the villains of society. Police ensure that law and order are maintained at every nook and corner. And to prove that police are there to protect people, they display their motto with pride. For instance, Delhi Police’s motto says, “Shanti Seva Nyaya” meaning “Peace Service Justice”. Tamilnadu Police’s motto says, “Truth Alone Triumphs”.
But what if savior himself turns out to be a villain. When police itself destroy the peace within society? What to do when police kill innocent people so that truth never triumph.
Two recent incidents at Tamilnadu have just proven that while police are respected as the savior of people, it can be a brutal murderer. The stories coming out seem to be from a Bollywood movie where a corrupt policeman kills innocent people. But these are not some fictional stories.
Tamilnadu Police is in question for arresting, torturing, and killing a father-son duo and an auto driver.
Death of Father-Son Duo
Jayraj and his son Bennicks were arrested for opening their shop beyond the stipulated timings. Sub-inspector Balakrishnan was so much annoyed that he arrested both of them. Whatever happened after that is unimaginable. The details coming out are so brutal that my spine is shivering. If you wish to go in details, you can read it here (Source: The Quint).
In this case, Tamilnadu Police not only arrested them, but they also tortured them. Even if I go by the statements of eyewitness coming in news, it seems the Judge himself didn’t follow the standard operating procedure.
Death of Auto Driver
In another instance, the Tamilnadu Police called an auto driver for an inquiry in a land dispute case. Before dying in a government hospital due to damaged kidney and spleen, he disclosed the torture by police during the inquiry. As per him, police threatened to harm his father, if he didn’t keep quiet about the alleged brutality (Source: India Today).
Such cases are not happening for the first time. Neither of these will be the last incidents. The policemen responsible for death has been suspended. And an inquiry is underway. But, will that inquiry will be enough? No.
The problem lies with the Indian Legal System
There are plenty of cases where people are in jail for years waiting to start their trial. A study by the Law Commission in 2001 stated that almost 60% of the arrests made could have been avoided. All these arrests were unnecessary. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Joginder Kumar v. the State of U.P observed: “The National Police Commission in its Third Report referring to the quality of arrests by the police in India mentioned the power of arrest as one of the chief sources of corruption in the police.”
Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose very aptly summarized the issues with the Legal system (Source: Mondaq.Com):
“Arrest brings humiliation, curtails free dom and casts scars forever. Lawmakers know it so also the police. There is a battle between the lawmakers and the police and it seems that the police has not learnt its lesson: the lesson implicit and embodied in CrPC. It has not come out of its colonial image despite six decades of Independence; it is largely considered as a tool of harassment, oppression and surely not considered a friend of public. The need for caution in exercising the drastic power of arrest has been emphasized time and again by the courts but has not yielded desired result. Power to arrest greatly contributes to its arrogance so also the failure of the Magistracy to check it. Not only this, the power of arrest is one of the lucrative sources of police corruption. The attitude to arrest first and then proceed with the rest is despicable. It has become a handy tool to the police officers who lack sensitivity or act with oblique motive.”
Even our Honorable Judges knows the root of the problem. Indian Laws were inherited from British Law. Mostly laws are unchanged. Until the Indian Government does not bring major reforms in the legal system, we will keep on witnessing such horrible incidents.
Provisions have to be made to make everyone accountable. The culprit should be identified and put in jail. Like every other arrestee, they should face the trial and prove themselves innocent in the court of law. Mere suspension till the inquiry is not going to solve the problem.
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