Transparency and Policing in India

Imagine my surprise to pick up the paper, The Times of India, and see that one of the articles on the front page was about transparency efforts in the Delhi Police.  Corruption is considered to be endemic in India and the police are not exempted.  In fact, the police have a reputation for being corrupt.  While most Americas feel comfortable calling the police or going to the police station, that is not the case in India.  They are feared as authoritarian and ignorant of rights.

The Courts intervene much more so than in the United States and this time, a division bench (lower level court) has order Delhi police (similar to the Washington DC police) to put all arrests with the purpose of the arrest on the web.  This is to be effective as of 2011 Feb, a very near date by bureaucracy standards (and in the author's opinion probably not feasible). This is much more than the police beat or police blotter Americans find in many papers that lists what the police did based upon dispatches.  This relates to the constitutional requirement of a presumption of innocence of an accused and his or her right to know what the charges are.  Further the court declared that this was a public document and therefore, the public not just the accused has the right to know. This actually goes beyond the current Indian law that allows an accused to obtain  a court to obtain nformation on his or her violation of the law.

In the same paper, the prospective appointee to be Chief Commissioner of the Civil Vigilance Commission, an investigatory body to root out corruption,  is facing sharp attacks from the media and the Supreme Court of India.  He has been accused of  taking bribes and is awaiting trial.  This is hardly the ethical or moral high road for a parliament to take if the legislators feel that the Commission is important no matter what the outcome of his trial.

Finally, the Supreme Court is pressing for states to pass reforms to their state police acts.  These suggested reforms are based upon a National Commission that was set up to make recommendations to the states to up-date and modernise law enforcement. Whether the suggestions are good or bad depends upon which of the many reforms you look at.  What is clear is law enforcement is largely an authoritarian hierarchical structure and as such it is not particularly responsive to pressing needs of the public to feel secure and to serve the public.  As such each state's police are insular, lack accountability and transparency. In a country that is fighting terrorism as the US is, it needs the support and the help of citizens to prevent terrorism.  It is hard to do if police do not see its role as to protect and serve, the motto of many a city police force in the US,

These newspaper articles could not be more timely.  9 Dec is UN anti-corruption day and Transparency International (where I visited today) is a participant in the day hosted by the UN. I will attending the Engagement of   a Civil Society in Addressing Corruption.   I look forward to learning more about what India has been doing. The former Chief of the Civil Vigilance Commission will be chairing the panel.