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Sunlight is the best disinfectant. The specific charges made by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh about Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh deserve thorough investigation. Following the National Investigation Agency findings on Sachin Vaze, it is essential that all his cases be reviewed. Sunlight is exactly what the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai Police need.
To this end, it is critical to protect the investigation from influence, particularly by those being investigated. Vaze and Singh have been removed from their posts. So should Anil Deshmukh. As a cabinet member and particularly as home minister, Deshmukh could interfere with the investigation. His removal will minimise this possibility. The Vaze-Singh-Deshmukh imbroglio should pave the way for much-needed police reforms.
The politician-police nexus, with the members of the police force acting as private enforcers of politicians of the ruling dispensation is by no means just limited to Mumbai or Maharashtra. What puts the Mumbai Police in a league of its own is the way members of the force appear to act as enforcers for underworld gangs, and as liaison for politicians with the underworld and vice versa. Vaze, Singh and Deshmukh are but the most recent protagonists of this malaise. They are, unfortunately, not the exception.
Changing this requires reform that improves accountability. The police must report to the executive but there must be oversight, ideally from the human rights commission and a committee of the state assembly. Besides providing checks and balances, it would ensure a modicum of protection to police personnel from political interference and manipulation, empowering the force to serve and protect.
Courtesy - The Economic Times.
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