THE government on December 4 approved an ordinance establishing the Police Commission aimed at modernising policing and improving efficiency, transparency, accountability, rights sensitivity, discipline and training. But the government’s promulgation of the ordinance has created doubt about the success of the commission as the institution will be largely advisory in nature. The establishment of the commission, as former police professionals and rights defenders think, is a good step forward, but they think that the steam has been taken out of the institution, leaving it not strong enough to break free of politicisation and the influence of the home affairs ministry. The Police Commission, established based on the recommendations of the commission set up on police administrative reforms on October 3, 2024, which submitted its report to the government on January 14, 2025, will recommend, as the ordinance says, steps to address citizens’ complaints against the police, grievances of police personnel and the modernisation of the force. A former inspector general of police, as New Age reported on December 11, has, however, said that the commission would resemble an extension of the National Human Rights Commission, which is often described as a tiger with no teeth.
The five-member Police Commission will be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. It will have a retired Grade 1 officer previously working as a district magistrate, a retired additional inspector general of police, a university teacher and an expert in rights or good governance working as members for a four-year tenure. The president will appoint the chair and members based on the recommendations of a seven-member selection committee. The selection committee, headed by an Appellate Division judge and including the National Human Rights Commission chair, the home affairs secretary, the Public Service Commission chair and two members of parliament, one from the treasury bench and the other from the opposition, will recommend the names of commission members in 30 days of the commission’s formation. The Police Commission will also send a list of three candidates from among police officers not below the rank of additional inspector general for the position of the inspector general of police. Beyond its core responsibilities for recommending measures on the police force, the commission may suggest preventive initiatives against violations by police personnel and make recommendations. A member of the police administrative reforms commission says that although the ordinance puts some checks on policing, it provides for no accountability mechanism for the home affairs ministry, leaving out the bureaucracy.
The Police Commission as it stands now appears to be functioning as a buffer between the home affairs ministry and the police administration. The commission should be able to ensure accountability of the bureaucracy in policing and it should be formed on a greater political consensus. There is still time for that.
