Police Encounters In India

What this session covered

This session took the form of a host in conversation with a single guest, a retired senior officer of the central police forces, on the subject of police encounters in India. The speaker began by contrasting the role of the police under colonial rule, when the force existed chiefly to protect British interests and instil fear in the population, with the constitutional role assigned after independence, in which the police form one wing of the criminal justice system in the service of citizens. In the speaker's assessment, the police have too often functioned outside this legal framework, and instances of extrajudicial action have grown over time despite repeated strictures from the courts, including the Supreme Court's rulings that extrajudicial killings are illegal.

The speaker drew a clear distinction between a genuine encounter, in which police return fire against a suspect who is fleeing and firing at them, and a fake encounter, in which a person already in custody is killed and a story of escape is constructed afterwards; custodial deaths were discussed in similar terms, as a usurpation of the courts' role in judgment and punishment. The persistence of such practices was attributed to several factors discussed at length: political pressure for quick results and the emergence of a culture that licenses elimination of suspected gangsters; the cultivation of so-called encounter specialists who come to see themselves as beyond the law; shortfalls in police manpower relative to sanctioned levels; and the non-implementation of successive reform recommendations, including the Supreme Court's directions on police reform, which the speaker noted remain unacted upon because policing is a State subject under the Constitution. Reference was also made to a committee constituted in 1993 under the then Union Home Secretary, whose report on the nexus between criminal syndicates and political functionaries was, in the speaker's account, never acted upon.

On remedies, the speaker argued for immediate and independent investigation of suspect encounters, exemplary punishment of officers found responsible, compensation for victims' families, continuous training within the police, including in human rights, community partnership and effective oversight mechanisms. The discussion also examined the role of the media in shaping public perception, with the speaker urging objective reporting rather than the portrayal of encounter specialists as heroes, and touched on the trust deficit between police and public, noting that the law itself treats statements made to police officers as inadmissible in court. The session closed with the speaker's warning that, in his view, the criminal justice system was close to collapse unless political leadership, the police and the media acted together to restore functioning within the bounds of law.

Key points raised

• The speaker, a retired senior central police officer, argued that difficulties in maintaining law and order can never justify extrajudicial killings.
• A genuine encounter involves return of fire against a fleeing, firing suspect; a fake encounter is the staged killing of a person already in custody.
• The speaker attributed the persistence of encounters to political pressure for quick results, the cultivation of encounter specialists, manpower shortfalls and unimplemented police reforms, with policing remaining a State subject.
• Remedies discussed included independent investigation, exemplary punishment of errant officers, compensation for victims' families, continuous training, including in human rights, community partnership and oversight mechanisms.
• The speaker linked the police-public trust deficit partly to the law itself, which renders statements made to police officers inadmissible in court.
• The speaker cautioned that the criminal justice system was, in his view, close to collapse without coordinated action by political leadership, police and media.