Current Scenario> Problems in Police Force> Design defects in Indian Police System> Introduction

It is regarded as an undisputed fact that the crime investigations in India today are inadequate and inefficient. This has been stated repeatedly by the media, committees and expert groups. In 2003 the Malimath Committee stated in their report that:

                    "The standard of police investigation in India remains poor and there is

                    considerable room for improvement."

They continued by citing the Bihar Police Commission (1961), the Punjab Police Commission (1961-62) and the West Bengal Police Commission (1960-61), all of whom criticise the police investigations for insufficiency and deterioration, in the standards of investigations. The Punjab Police Commission even reports:

           "[.] public complained of rudeness, intimidation, suppression of evidence,

              concoction of evidence and malicious padding of cases."

This reveals that the trust the police enjoyed in India was low in the early 60s but what is worse is that the trend still prevails. The survey done by Transparency International India in 2005 indicates that 74% of the respondents who have been interacting with the police stations in the country feel the police service is inadequate. The significant high level of distrust is a direct result of  insufficient police work connected to inadequate education, training, forensic facilities and structural deficiencies such as arbitrary transfers of police officers.

Despite the criticism over the last forty years, few improvements have been made. The most recent committee to investigate the Indian police and the Indian criminal justice system is the Malimath committee in 2003. In its report the committee identified thirteen obstacles police officers at all levels are currently facing. Of the above, nine focuses on the inefficiency of the system and only four addresses the genuine problem of the police force structure. Lok Satta has carefully analysed the current police force and its shortcomings and identified the following five  structural defects:

                   1. Unwarranted political interference and politically driven

                      appointments, transfers and promotions;

                   2. Disparate functions performed by an overburdened police force;

                   3. Lack of genuine empowerment;

                   4. Lack of an independent oversight body;

                   5. Inadequate collaboration between the police and the prosecutor