Kochi: Kerala High Court on Friday asked the state to implement the bifurcation of police duties as investigation and law and order at five police stations in Thiruvananthapuram city in a time-bound manner.
Director-General of Prosecution T. Asaf Ali submitted that out of the 21 police stations in Thiruvananthapuram city, five police stations- Vattiyoorkavu, Karamana, Vizhinjam, Poonthura and Sreekaryam-- are fit for the implementation of the programme in full-fledged manner.
Justice Alexander Thomas asked the police to file a compliance report before November 10.
The shortage of manpower in the police station is the major difficulty faced for the effective implementation of a full-fledged investigation wing, separated from the law and order wing, the state submitted.
A plea by T.L. Mohan, Mangad, Kollam, seeking a directive to free and fair investigation in the suspicious death of his son Sree Kumar Mohan is pending before the court.
There is no functional autonomy for the police even in the case of heinous crime like murder, the court observed.
Advocate Kaleeswaram Raj, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the directions issued by the Supreme Court still remained on paper.
