Is safety of the people of Delhi, especially women, children and elderly, not a priority for the Centre?
Delhi High Court posed this question to the Centre, saying it has not yet approved enhancing the strength of the city police and was rather focused on whether technology would suffice.
Even on the technology aspect, a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva came down heavily on the Ministry of Finance (MoF) saying a huge majority of cops did not have bullet-proof vests and in some cases, not even a 'lathi', and wondered whether the Centre wants Robocops.
"You talk of technology, but you are not even able to set up CCTVs," the bench said and added that the more time MoF takes to decide these issues, the more crimes would be committed as "criminals are not bound by red-tape".
It also asked the Centre whether lack of money was the reason for not approving additional manpower sought by Delhi Police, which at present has a total strength of about 84,500.
"Initially they (Delhi police) required 64,000 personnel, which they cut down to 89 proposals for 46,949 personnel of which around 15 proposals for around 15,000 personnel was a priority. "But you (Centre) put even the priority proposals on the back-burner. Delhi police is crying for it. MHA has approved it, but MoF is not doing anything..
"How do you promise safety to people of Delhi? What are your priorities? Is safety of people, especially women, children and elderly, in the national capital not a priority," the court asked.
"You talk of using advancement in technology, but most of the cops do not even have a bullet-proof vest. You are not even providing the basic infrastructure, like 'lathi'. Will the official in MoF decide what the person on the ground needs," the court asked and said in a jocular vein: "They probably want Robocops".
It asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain to convey the court's concerns to the MoF with regard to providing police personnel as requisitioned by Delhi police and approved by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and to get back with instructions on next date of hearing, February 9.
The court made it clear that if no answer was forthcoming from the Centre, then it will "close this chapter" of more personnel and put down in its order that the government does not have the money to carry out the exercise nor the intent for better policing of Delhi.
As per a Delhi Police affidavit, it had sent a
comprehensive manpower proposal in 2015, containing 89 proposals for 46,949 additional personnel, which is pending before the Centre.
"The glaring reality is that we are under-staffed," said senior advocate Chetan Sharma, appearing for Delhi Police.
Meanwhile, Delhi government senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra told the court that if the Centre does not have funds, the AAP government can provide funds to Delhi Police.
During the hearing, ASG Jain that while 4227 manpower has been approved, the remaining priority proposals for additional 11,000 (approximate) personnel was being considered by a high -powered committee.
He said increasing the manpower on the rolls of Delhi police would have a cascading effect on infrastructure and housing and considering all these aspects takes time. Moreover, the government has to also deal with manpower requests from various authorities, not just Delhi Police.
The ASG also claimed there were thousands of vacancies in Delhi Police which the agency was not filling up. He further said that even if there were two lakh cops in Delhi, it would not lead to end of crimes.
He said the MoF has to see how the priority proposals can be implemented and how soon, adding that the proposals have not been thrown into the dustbin.
The court, however, was not swayed by the contentions as it said the MoF's conduct amounts to not providing adequate treatment to "a patient -- Delhi -- who has been prescribed a certain medication by the doctor--Delhi Police--and the specialist--MHA."
"MoF has cut down the medication to a tenth of what was prescribed. What will happen to the patient, to Delhi? It will keep on suffering. Can you give an answer to this," it asked.
"We conveyed everything to your expenditure secretary earlier, but nothing has happened. It appears that the two ministries are at loggerheads," the court said.
It said "MoF cannot say Delhi Police does not require more cops, when MHA says it is needed. MoF cannot decide requirement, they only have to find the funds or say they do not have funds."
On the last date of hearing, the court had asked Delhi Police to place on record its manpower requirement and what the Centre has done regarding that till date.
The Centre had recently filed an affidavit indicating it has sanctioned 4,227 posts in Delhi Police and that these posts would be operationalised in two phases, half in 2016-17 and rest in 2017-18 after a review of the scheme.
The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it after the December 16, 2012 gangrape incident in which it has been giving directions on the issues of appointing more police personnel, setting up additional forensic labs and a victim compensation fund.
