GreaterKashmir.com:Thursday, February 02, 2012.
Srinagar, Feb 1: A proposal to introduce a new Police legislation in Jammu and Kashmir in the upcoming Budget Session has drawn attention of civil society and law experts, who are demanding media awareness campaign on the draft bill before it is tabled in the assembly for its far-reaching publicity.
Talking to Greater Kashmir the members of civil society and legal practitioners said the ‘conventional way’ to publicize the draft bill won’t make any sense. “There must be media awareness campaign to inform different stakeholders including common masses about various aspects of the draft bill so that the legislation is made people friendly,” they said.
“It will tend to give police more powers, reduce the accountability and dilute the effectiveness if proper consultations were not made in a matter of such wide public importance,” said Navaz Kotwal, a Programme Coordinator at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), a premiere non-governmental organization promoting the Right to Information Act and advocating police reforms in India.
She believed that the new law would be flawed if proper consultations were not made.
The legal experts of the valley believe that if the government is genuinely asking for the public response then the proposed reforms in the Police Act should be notified through electronic and print media.
Senior advocate Zafar Shah said the involvement of public is important to make law on the sensitive issue. “In the process of consultations, the proposed reforms should be notified through print and electronic media besides uploading it on the Police website to get the maximum response from the public,” he said.
“After receiving public responses through a proper authority, the expert committees should consider these responses to hold face to face meetings with any persons they wish to in order to understand the response properly. They can then submit the recommendations based on public response to the government to be incorporated in the reform bill. That would make the process genuine,” Shah added.
This is notable that despite the lapse of five years since the Supreme Court issued directives in 2007 with regard to police reforms, many states kept on lingering the proposed reforms. As far as JK government’s compliance in this connection is concerned, more pressure has started building on it following five month long 2010 summer unrest in the Valley. Even the Kashmir interlocutors constituted by the Centre has strongly recommended for the police reforms.
An RTI activist and a member of civil society Raja Muzaffar Bhat said it is also a statutory requirement under the new RTI law which mandates that the government to publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing decisions which affect the public.
“The way the draft bill for the Jammu and Kashmir RTI Act was made public before making it a law should be applied to the police act also. The public debate is important on the issue to take the public recourse in consideration,” he said.
According to documents available with GK, the need for police reforms in India is long recognized. “Way back in 1979, the National Police Commission (NPC) was set up to report on policing and give recommendations for reform. The Commission produced eight reports, dozens of topic specific recommendations and also a Model Police Act,” reads a document titled “Seven Steps to Police Reform” prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), a new Delhi-based non-governmental organization.
The directives, according to experts, provide practical mechanisms to kick-start reforms. “They make up a scheme which if implemented holistically will correct the common ills that create poor police performance and unaccountable law enforcement today,” the CHRI document reads. “The scheme puts in place mechanisms to better ensure that the police have functional responsibility while remaining under the supervision of the political executive; political control of police by the political executive is conditioned and kept within its legitimate bonds; internal management systems are fair and transparent; police efficiencies are increased in terms of their core functions and most importantly, public complaints are addressed and police accountability enhanced.”
Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani said the draft bill would be put on government and police websites to receive public response. “However, we welcome suggestions from various quarters regarding the public debate to make the Police Act refurbished,” he said.
Talking to Greater Kashmir the members of civil society and legal practitioners said the ‘conventional way’ to publicize the draft bill won’t make any sense. “There must be media awareness campaign to inform different stakeholders including common masses about various aspects of the draft bill so that the legislation is made people friendly,” they said.
“It will tend to give police more powers, reduce the accountability and dilute the effectiveness if proper consultations were not made in a matter of such wide public importance,” said Navaz Kotwal, a Programme Coordinator at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), a premiere non-governmental organization promoting the Right to Information Act and advocating police reforms in India.
She believed that the new law would be flawed if proper consultations were not made.
The legal experts of the valley believe that if the government is genuinely asking for the public response then the proposed reforms in the Police Act should be notified through electronic and print media.
Senior advocate Zafar Shah said the involvement of public is important to make law on the sensitive issue. “In the process of consultations, the proposed reforms should be notified through print and electronic media besides uploading it on the Police website to get the maximum response from the public,” he said.
“After receiving public responses through a proper authority, the expert committees should consider these responses to hold face to face meetings with any persons they wish to in order to understand the response properly. They can then submit the recommendations based on public response to the government to be incorporated in the reform bill. That would make the process genuine,” Shah added.
This is notable that despite the lapse of five years since the Supreme Court issued directives in 2007 with regard to police reforms, many states kept on lingering the proposed reforms. As far as JK government’s compliance in this connection is concerned, more pressure has started building on it following five month long 2010 summer unrest in the Valley. Even the Kashmir interlocutors constituted by the Centre has strongly recommended for the police reforms.
An RTI activist and a member of civil society Raja Muzaffar Bhat said it is also a statutory requirement under the new RTI law which mandates that the government to publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing decisions which affect the public.
“The way the draft bill for the Jammu and Kashmir RTI Act was made public before making it a law should be applied to the police act also. The public debate is important on the issue to take the public recourse in consideration,” he said.
According to documents available with GK, the need for police reforms in India is long recognized. “Way back in 1979, the National Police Commission (NPC) was set up to report on policing and give recommendations for reform. The Commission produced eight reports, dozens of topic specific recommendations and also a Model Police Act,” reads a document titled “Seven Steps to Police Reform” prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), a new Delhi-based non-governmental organization.
The directives, according to experts, provide practical mechanisms to kick-start reforms. “They make up a scheme which if implemented holistically will correct the common ills that create poor police performance and unaccountable law enforcement today,” the CHRI document reads. “The scheme puts in place mechanisms to better ensure that the police have functional responsibility while remaining under the supervision of the political executive; political control of police by the political executive is conditioned and kept within its legitimate bonds; internal management systems are fair and transparent; police efficiencies are increased in terms of their core functions and most importantly, public complaints are addressed and police accountability enhanced.”
Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani said the draft bill would be put on government and police websites to receive public response. “However, we welcome suggestions from various quarters regarding the public debate to make the Police Act refurbished,” he said.
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