Kerala High Court rejects petition over police commissionerates

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking the judiciary’s intervention to prevent the formation of the police commissionerate in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. The petitioner sought a halt on the steps taken by the government on the ground that the decision was taken without making a proper assessment.

Rejecting the petition, the division bench said that it would not intervene in the policy decisions of the government unnecessarily.  

Muraleedharan, a Thevara native, approached the court against the government’s decision which had snowballed into a major controversy in the state with the CPI, the second leading constituent in the ruling LDF itself, opposing it.

The main objection is the move to entrust a part of the magisterial powers with the commissioner. Its critics say that it would lead to a police raj in the state. The behaviour of police, especially in matters connected with custodial torture, with the connivance and active support of high-ranking officials, is a major issue. In such a situation, entrusting them with magisterial powers will only enhance the rogue behaviour of police, say human rights activists.

“The focus of civil policing, traditionally, has been investigation of the crime, arresting the accused and presenting them before the appropriate court. But nowadays, policing has increasingly become a...militarised activity with focus shifting to pre-empting crime with the police force gaining more and more powers,” says Thushar Nirmal Saradhy, general secretary of Janakeeya Manushyavkasa Prasthanam.

The state government’s move to delegate magisterial powers to select commissionerate in the state has to be viewed in this background, he said. The government’s hurry is inexplicable as the matter is still pending in the Supreme Court, he said.