SC issues notice to Centre, states on police recruitment

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre and all states on a plea seeking a direction to the respective governments for implementation of transparent recruitment process (TRP) for hiring police personnel.
A bench headed by Justice T S Thakur sought response from the governments for implementation of TRP which was developed by the National Police Mission and is being implemented in recruitment in paramilitary forces by the Centre.
The court passed the order on a plea of an NGO Lokniti Foundation which contended that the process of police recruitment at the lower levels needs to be changed as it generally gets mired in controversies.

It submitted that there have been widespread corruption, nepotism and political interference in many of the recruitments in different states leading to various scams.
"A person who enters the police force through corrupt means cannot be expected to perform his duties of maintenance of law and order and detection of crime in a fair and just manner irrespective of all other qualities and capabilities. It goes without saying that the quality of policing is largely dependent on the quality of police manpower," advocate Ashok Dhamija, appearing for the NGO, said.
"The project TRP lays down transparent processes and makes extensive use of technology for police recruitment so as to make it honest, fair, efficient, effective, transparent, foolproof and objective, that can withstand judicial scrutiny.

"This scheme has been designed in such a way that every candidate is kept informed of his progress at every stage of the recruitment process to ensure a tamper-proof recruitment with the maximum use of technology," the petition said.