The image of the police in India has been at its worst due to the malady it is inflicted with. It has been very difficult to find an impartial and reliable police personnel, since only a handful of them can be found thinly dispersed in the police force. If one finds an honest and impartial police personnel, it is considered to be one’s good luck. A common man or woman must undergo their caprices and partiality. The comments of the Supreme Court must be followed by remedial actions, otherwise, these would cease to have any value.

The bench of Chief Justice N V Ramanna and Justice Surya Kant commented, “It is a disturbing feature across the country. To be in the good books of politicians in power, they commit hara-kiri. First, they actively register cases against political opponents of those at the helm of power. They face the music at the hands of other police officers when the previously targeted politicians come to power.”

"This is a clear misuse of the system. The police officers have to apportion blame on themselves for this sorry state of affairs," the bench said while granting interim protection from arrest to top Chhattisgarh police officer Gurjinder Pal Singh who had alleged that he is being politically victimised for not registering cases against former Chief Minister in an alleged scam in the Nagrik Apurti Nigam.

The case in brief is: G P Singh’s predecessors had conducted raids in 2015 at multiple locations and headquarters of Nagrik Aapurti Nigam and an FIR was registered at the police station (ACB/EOW), Raipur. In the raid, two diaries were seized in which alleged gratification paid to various functionaries of state, have been mentioned and the diary contained entries "CM Sir" and "CM Madam", which later became the centre of a political controversy. G P Singh was allegedly given instruction of the CM to register cases against former CM, which he did not carry out and hence is being victimized.

The state refuted this allegation and submitted in the Supreme Court that there had been two FIRs registered against Singh, one under Section 124A (sedition) for attempting to destabilise the elected government headed by Baghel and the other for amassing wealth allegedly nine times his known sources of income. On behalf of the accused it was submitted that he himself demanded an impartial CBI probe into the charges against him, while the prosecution said that both the income tax department and the CBI are against the accused police officer as there was a prima facie disproportionate assets case against him.

The second case is related to CBI and ED. The bench of CJI N V Ramana, Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Surya Kart expressed their concern over the unexplained delay on their part in completing probes and said that they should not keep the “sword hanging” over the accused and there must be time-bound completion of investigations. The bench noted that investigations were still going on and chargesheets yet to be filed in a few cases even after a decade.

The bench was hearing a petition against the delay in the failure of the agencies to prosecute MPs and MLAs in cases registered against them years ago. Even a TADA case of 1995 was mentioned in which even charges have not yet been framed. Amicus curiae submitted the 51 MPs and 71 MLAs and MLCs are accused Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases, while 121 CBI cases against MPs and MLAs are pending before courts. Of these, 58 cases are punishable with death or life imprisonment.

The oldest case is from 2000 and 37 cases are still under investigation. Solicitor General has suggested that the agencies should be directed to complete probe in all cases involving lawmakers within 6 months and trial should be completed within reasonable time. On hearing this suggestion the bench said, “It is easy for us to say expedite trial and all … but where are the judges?” This is where lies the predicament of common people in getting justice in India – whether it is police administration or judiciary – especially when justice is delayed which amounts to denial of justice, apart from other evils our institutions are plagued with.

However, the bench emphasised on speedy prosecution of the cases involving lawmakers. "If there is something in the case then you should file a chargesheet but if you do not find anything, the case should be closed. Do not keep the sword hanging," the CJI observed after going through the data on pending cases in which investigations have gone on for many years. The bench said it did not want to pass any observation as it would demoralise the investigating agencies but the "figure placed before it speak volumes"… "Reports (filed by CBI, ED) are very inconclusive and no reasons given for not filing chargesheet for 10-15 years. Reason for delay is not mentioned in the report," the bench observed.

What has emerged from the two cases, and there can be cited many other examples for the past, that both the police administration and the judiciary need to be reformed for impartiality and timely delivery of justice. If Supreme Court cannot do that who will? (IPA Service)