The Supreme Court was told Thursday that creating a separate cadre trained to undertake the investigation into heinous crimes was not feasible on account of financial and manpower constraints and its affect in overall working of the police force.
"A separate cadre from police station to DIG (deputy inspector general) level is not possible and also not right as it would affect the promotion prospects in police," Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) Director General Rajan Gupta told a bench of Justice T.S.Thakur, Justice R.K. Agrawal and Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel.
His opinion came as the court is examining the feasibility of creating a separate cadre of professionally trained investigator to probe heinous crimes like murder, rape, extortion, economic offences, caste related violence, and communal violence.
The court sought Gupta's views on creating a separate cadre of professionally trained investigators for an impartial, credible, reliable, and free from political influence paddling investigation that carries weight with the common people.
It also sought his view on the capacity, ability and potential of a sub-inspector, who rose to the position in course of service after initially being recruited as a constable, to handle complicated investigation with new techniques.
The court had sought the views of BPRD chief on creating separate cadre of investigators during the hearing of the matter Tuesday.
Gupta told the court that if there is a specialised cadre of investigators, then there would be multiple cadres like for traffic, cyber-crimes and other areas of policing and it will create a problem and effect the overall working of the police force.
He said melting under extraneous pressure varies from individual to individual and there are police officers who refuse to bend before political pressure and officers above them who resist moves to get unbending investigators from being shunted out of probe teams.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told the court that All India Police Science Congress held in 2009 had considered the question of separating policing from investigation and creating separate wing of investigation but the idea had to be rested on account of manpower and financial constraints.
He told the court that a model police act, 2014, prepared by the BPRD provides for the creation of distinct separate specialised unit to undertake investigations in heinous crimes right from police station to district level and this was under the government's consideration.
Officers and police personnel manning these Special Investigating Units at police station level and at the district level would not be diverted for other policing activities, he noted.
The court was told that the model act was drafted following the recommendations of the second Administrative Reforms Commission and that of the Police Commission.
Noting the opposition to the caderisation of professionally trained investigators, and central government's position that it was a state subject, the court observed that whole thing was in the state of flux and a melting pot.
Senior counsel Harish Salve, who is amicus curiae abd assisting the court in pushing the police reforms, told the court that he would place before it a compilation of work that has already been done in India, and policing practices in other countries.
Acceding to Salve's plea, the court granted him six weeks time to prepare the compilation, and another four weeks to government to file its response as it directed the listing of the matter April 8.
