Editorial
Decline in number of police cases
Good move, but some questions need answering
POLICE stations in the nation's capital have drastically cut down the number of cases pending investigation to one-ninth of what they used to be. In the year and a half gone by, cases have declined from a staggering 35,000 to a mere 4,164. Now that surely looks like progress, brought about of course not through a disposal of cases but by a reduction in the workload relating to investigations. And if indeed the number of cases pending investigation have come down to that level in accordance with standard procedure, the police department deserves to be congratulated. We expect that this kind of performance, based on a proper screening of cases in future, will eventually turn out to be a permanent feature of police administration.
There are, however, in light of the report about the decline in the number of cases, certain very pertinent questions that come up. One of them relates to what may have gone on as far as lodging cases is concerned until now. This drastic reduction in the number of cases quite legitimately raises public curiosity as to whether most of the cases now set aside were actually made up or were false cases filed against innocent individuals. Logic as well as the law certainly cannot allow for a situation where genuine cases already filed can be disposed of with the alacrity we have noticed in the present instance. In a social condition notorious for cases to be lodged as a way of harassing the innocent and the socially deprived, one wonders if some rather strange happenings may not have occurred. The police administration would do well to satisfy citizens on this score. And then comes the next question. Judging by the steep manner in which the number of cases has dropped, it is again important to inquire if somehow there has been an abridgement in the law enforcement process, to an extent where genuine cases may also have been disposed of and lawbreakers may have found a way out of their predicament through the process applied by the police department. It is questions such as these that need to be answered.
While on the subject, we also note a positive side to this development. The police department has decided to do away with what are known as case writers, or people engaged by police stations or thanas to prepare cases (in contravention of regulations). That will mean a marked difference in the situation, given the fact that case writers have often been found to be instrumental in harassing people by preparing legally untenable cases and then intimidating them with the objective of obtaining pecuniary benefits from them. If this change can be enforced, it will truly be taken as a sign of progress.
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