Expressing displeasure at the lack of measures for ensuring security of common people, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Union government for not releasing funds to the Delhi Police for creating additional posts and recruitments for law and order duties.
The court said there was no need for the police force to work under the “dictates of the Centre”.
Hearing a public interest litigation initiated by it, a Division Bench asked if the Centre was really interested in better policing in the Capital. “Why is this step-motherly treatment [towards Delhi]?” said the court.
The Bench, comprising Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, made the observations after the Delhi Police told the court that the Union government had cut down its initial requirement of 64,000 personnel to only 14,000. Even as the Ministry of Home Affairs had approved the proposal for recruitment of 14,000 additional cops, the Finance Ministry had yet to release funds for the purpose, observed the court, while expressing surprise at the latter’s stand that the advancement in technology would serve the purpose and the additional manpower may not be necessary.
The Bench sought to know the required people-to-police ratio in Delhi and asked the Centre to inform it of the specific figures in the next hearing on January 27. In the PIL initiated after the December 16, 2012 gang-rape incident, the court has been giving directions on the strength of police force, additional forensic laboratories and a victim compensation fund.
In some strong observations, the Bench asked the Centre if the common people, who were paying taxes, were getting safety in return and suggested to Delhi Police to “function independently” rather than yielding to the dictates of the Centre. “If you go along with the Centre, nothing will happen. Be more aggressive.”
While amicus curiae Meera Bhatia pointed out that the CCTV cameras had not yet been installed in 44 “vulnerable areas” identified by the police, the Delhi government’s standing counsel Rahul Mehra said money should not be a factor when the matter involved people’s life and liberty. The court observed that though it had initiated the process to increase manpower of Delhi Police three years ago, the Centre’s attitude on the subject had been “quite dismal”. “Rs.450 crore [required] for setting up CCTVs is less than the cost of building a mall.”
“Can women in Delhi move around even after 7 p.m.?” asked the court, adding that the petty crimes often lead to big crimes. The Delhi Police counsel Shailendra Babbar assured the court that the police force would independently look into all the related issues.
The Union government had recently filed an affidavit in the court stating that it had sanctioned 4,227 posts in Delhi Police for separating criminal investigation from maintenance of law and order. These posts are to be implemented in two phases, half in 2016-17 and the rest in 2017-18.
The police said the Centre had reduced its need of 64,000 personnel to 14,000
