Delhi Police Commissioner Ajai Raj Sharma on Thursday said the police should be given autonomy like the judiciary to do away with political influence over it. Addressing a seminar on human rights and police, Sharma admitted that in important cases policemen face political pressure, and said truth would never come before the court if investigations were influenced by politicians.
Only if the police and judiciary both are independent, human rights of comman people can be protected, he said.
Sharma said the issue of human rights was an acid test for any civilised society and commended his jawans for laying their lives to prevent terrorist activities and protecting the human rights of citizens.
He, however, admitted that while performing their duties, policemen overstep their limit and commit certain human rights' violations, knowingly or unknowingly.
Chief justice of Delhi High Court Justice S B Sinha said those entrusted with the task of protecting the human rights must not themselves commit violations thereof. Stressing the need for policing the police, justice Sinha said the rule of law must be upheld otherwise the basic fabric of the Constitution would be in peril.
He also called for doing away with the traditional methods of investigation and interrogation to check human rights' abuse by the police and suggested that the police force should be divided into two wings -- investigation and law enforcement.
Justice B N Kirpal of Supreme Court lamented that honest police officers were transferred and humiliated which demoralised the whole police force.
Bureau Report