oppn parties Police Reforms Are Urgently Needed

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Tragedy in Kolkata: Stampede at the Chor Bagan Pujo results in 18 people losing their lives and scores injured /////// The stampede was caused by a sudden downpour which made people in the heavy crowd run for cover
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Police Reforms Are Urgently Needed

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-07-08 09:00:13

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

The urgency for police reforms in India has been highlighted by several recent events that have shown how a police force that blindly follows the instructions of its political masters makes a mockery of law and its responsibility as keepers of the law. Criminal action is initiated against a person in one state and the police from that state goes to arrest the offender in another state (sometimes without following due process) and the police force in that other state (governed by another political party) prevents them from taking action against the accused or arresting him or her.

Recently it first happened in the case of Delhi BJP leader Tejinder Singh Bagga against whom a case was filed in AAP-ruled Punjab. The Punjab Police team that came to arrest him was intercepted by Haryana Police on the request of Delhi Police (both controlled by the BJP) when they were taking him to Punjab. A Delhi Police team went to Haryana and bought Bagga back. It was then alleged that the Punjab Police team did not inform their Delhi counterparts nor did they have transit remand from a Delhi court to take Bagga to Punjab.

Now, in the case of TV anchor Rohit Ranjan, a Chhattisgarh (governed by the Congress) police team landed in Noida to arrest him for airing a misleading video of Rahul Gandhi following which a case that was registered against him in that state. Ranjan informed the UP (governed by BJP) Police who promptly landed up at his home and arrested him on another charge to prevent the Chhattisgarh police from arresting him. Once again the familiar charges that the Chhattisgarh police did not inform the UP police and did not have transit remand from a local court were made.

Why is there no clarity on the procedure to be followed in case of inter-state arrests? Since this is happening with increasing frequency, either the Criminal Procedure Code must be amended properly to insert detailed procedure to be followed in case the police from one state wants to arrest an accused from another state or the Supreme Court must issue detailed guidelines for the same. The present situation is such that politicized police forces are making a mockery of law. The best thing would be to initiate comprehensive police reforms to keep all investigative agencies free from political interference. But no political party will easily give away the habit of using the police to harass dissenters and political opponents. That is the real tragedy.