role of civil services

Question 1

Lateral entry: intro?

Answer 1

• NITI Aayog, in its three-year Action Agenda, and the Sectoral Group of Secretaries (SGoS) on Governance in its report submitted in February 2017, recommended the induction of personnel at middle and senior management levels in the central government.
• These ‘lateral entrants’ would be part of the central secretariat which in the normal course has only career bureaucrats from the All India Services/ Central Civil Services
• would be contracted for three to five years.

Question 2

Lateral entry: arguments in support?

Answer 2

1. Government has, from time to time, appointed some prominent persons for specific assignments in government, keeping in view their specialised knowledge and expertise in the domain area
2. There is huge shortfall of IAS cadre officers in state cadres. The Baswan Committee (2016) pointed out how large states such as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have a deficit of 75 to over 100 officers and their unwillingness to sponsor officers to go to the Centre on deputation is understandable.
3. Outside talent from the private sector is more likely to be target-oriented
4. More competition will encourage career civil servants to develop expertise in areas of their choice.
5. infuse fresh energy and thinking into an insular, complacent and often archaic bureaucracy.

Question 3

Lateral entry: arguments against?

Answer 3

1. no reservation in these appointments
2. present system of ‘frequent and arbitrary transfers’ hinder gaining of the relevant experience by incumbent officers. Thus, it is unfair to brand incumbents as ‘generalists’.
3. Private sector approach is profit oriented on the other hand motive of Government is public service.
4. Lateral entry at only at top level policy making positions may have little impact on field level implementation
5. Lateral entrants with the right ‘connections’ may join just to enjoy the perks and privileges by cherry-picking the post.
6. A good managerial system encourages and nurtures talent from within instead of seeking to induct leadership from outside.

Question 4

Lateral entry: conclusion?

Answer 4

structure that we have inherited is largely a colonial structure which regrettably, hasn’t undergone many changes even after 70 years of Independence.

There should be open competition for the Lateral entry with due transparent process including all necessary checks and balances to ensure persons with integrity and political neutrality enters the government service.

Question 5

SC suggestions for police reforms in Prakash Singh case?

Answer 5

• Fixing the tenure and selection of the DGP to avoid situations where officers about to retire in a few months are given the post.
• In order to ensure no political interference, a minimum tenure was sought for the Inspector General of Police so that they are not transferred mid-term by politicians.
• Postings of officers should be done by Police Establishment Boards (PEB) comprising police officers and senior bureaucrats to insulate powers of postings and transfers from political leaders.
• Set up State Police Complaints Authority (SPCA) to give a platform where common people aggrieved by police action could approach.
• Separate investigation and law and order functions to better improve policing.
• Set up of State Security Commissions (SSC) that would have members from civil society.
• Form a National Security Commission.

States’ response: Following the 2006 judgment, not even one state was fully compliant with the apex court directives. 18 states passed or amended their Police Acts in this time, but not one fully matches legislative models.

Question 6

need for police reforms?

Answer 6

1. politician- police nexus
   
   • eg. MH case; also noted by 2nd ARC report
   • criminalisation of politics has made this nexus now including of criminals
2. overburdened police force:
   
   • As of January 2016, the state forces had 24% vacancies (5.5 lakh) and the central forces had 7% vacancies.
   • India has 137 police personnel per lakh of the population while the sanctioned strength is 181. And, this is woefully inadequate when compared to the United Nations recommended standard of 222 personnel per lakh people.
   • lack of adequate representation of women in the police force. They form under 7% of the force
3. police accountability:
   
   1. unlawful arrests, unlawful searches, torture while in custody and even custodial rapes and deaths.
   2. eg. case of a father-son duo in Thoothukudi
   3. allegations of corruption
4. inadequate resources: CAG audits have reported a shortage of weapons with several state police forces.
5. constabulary related issues:
   
   1. constables constitute 86% of the police forces.
   2. There have been suggestions that the current eligibility criteria (of X or XII pass) be modified to suit the requirements.
   3. Also, a police constable is generally promoted only once in his career and mostly retire as head constable. This results in lack of motivation on the job
6. crime investigation: Law Commission and the 2nd ARC have noted that state police officers often neglect this responsibility because they are understaffed and overburdened with various kinds of tasks.
7. Police public relations

Question 7

commissions/ committees on police reforms?

Answer 7

National police commission 1977

Ribeiro committee-1999

Padmanabhaiah committee-2000

Malimath committee-2003

Question 8

recommendations of National police commission?

Answer 8

Between 1979 and 1981, the NPC produced eight reports.

• Judicial inquiry for custodial rape, death, hurt, and deaths in case of police firing
• Political interference in police work had caused gross abuse of power. recommended measures to limit this influence
• recommended measures to make the police more sensitive to the needs and complaints of the marginalised sections
• recommended an important amendment to Section 154 Cr.P.C. which would make it incumbent on a police station to register an FIR whether or not the crime has taken place in its jurisdiction and then transfer the FIR to the concerned police station, if necessary.
• Measures to reduce third-degree methods by the police.
• recommended the gradual phasing out of all recruitment except at the IPS and the constable level.
• Police Act of 1861 should be replaced by a new Police Act, which not only changes the system of superintendence and control over the police but also enlarges the role of the police to make it function as an agency which promotes the rule of law

Question 9

modified norms for employing retired officials?

Answer 9

CVC has laid down a defined procedure to be followed by government organisations for getting vigilance clearance before employing a retired official on a contractual or consultancy basis.

Applicability: Before offering employment to retired All India Services and Group A officers of the Central government or their equivalent in other organisations owned or controlled by the Centre, vigilance clearance from the employer organisation, from which the officer has retired, should be obtained.

In case a retired officer served in more than one organisation, clearance has to be obtained from all of them where the person was posted in the 10 years prior to retirement.

A communication seeking clearance should also be sent to the CVC. If no reply is received from the erstwhile employer (s) within 15 days of sending the communication by speed post, a reminder can be sent. If there is no response within 21 days, vigilance clearance should be deemed to have been given.

If the employee is found involved in any vigilance-related matter or not cleared from the vigilance point of view, the erstwhile employer organisation would be responsible for all consequential actions.

Question 10

T/F: 28th Bench of Central Administrative tribunal fr UTs of J&K and Ladakh inaugurated recently.

Answer 10

F

18th

Question 11

USA’s Democrats Police reform bill?

Answer 11

The bill proposes to:

1. Reform “qualified immunity” for officers, making it easier for people whose constitutional rights were violated to recover damages
2. Change the federal standard of criminal police behavior from “willful” to acting “knowingly or with reckless disregard,” to address the difficulty of prosecuting officers
3. Start a federal registry of police misconduct and require states to report use of force to the U.S. Justice Department
4. Ban police use of chokeholds and carotid holds, and condition funding for state and local departments on barring the practices
5. Stop the use of “no-knock” search warrants in drug cases in the U.S., while also making state and local money contingent on stopping use of the warrants
6. Give the Justice Department subpoena power to carry out “pattern and practice” investigations into police department conduct
7. Provide state attorneys general with grants to carry out pattern and practice probes and create a process for independent investigations into uses of force
8. Require training on racial bias and implicit bias at the federal level, and condition state and local funding on offering training
9. Curb transfers of military-grade weapons to state and local police
10. Classify lynching as a federal hate crime

Question 12

Custodial deaths and Police Brutality in India: stats?

Answer 12

Acc to NCRB, 100 cases of custodial deaths were reported in 2017, 42 of which were in police custody.

Overall, 2,005 cases were registered against police personnel, 1,000 of whom were charge-sheeted. 128 personnel were convicted.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, the Minister of State for Home Affairs stated that 1,697 custodial deaths were registered between April 2019 and March 2020, of which 1,584 deaths were in judicial custody while the rest (113) were in police custody. This meant that about five custodial deaths took place every day in our country.

Question 13

What is the procedure to appoint a DGP as laid down by the Supreme Court?

Answer 13

In the 2006 Prakash Singh judgment, the Supreme Court laid down procedures for appointment of a DGP so that there is no political interference. As per the guidelines, the state government was to select the DGP from the list of three officers selected by UPSC that would have gone through the records of all the eligible officers from the state cadre.

While initially the SC had said the person selected should have at least a two-year service period remaining, it was later reduced to six months. The Supreme Court also barred the state government from appointing DGP’s on acting basis.

Question 14

Police Atrocities: facts and stats?

Answer 14

1. CJI has mooted to form a Panel headed by High Court Chief Justice to probe any complaint received from Common man of “atrocities” committed by the bureaucracy, especially police officers
2. According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, 1,727 people died in police custody between 2001 and 2018. However, just 26 policemen were convicted of custodial violence during the same period
3. recent instances:
   
   1. Gorakhpur: police officers in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh have been accused of causing the death of a businessman during a raid in a hotel.
   2. Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu): Nine policemen were involved in the custodial deaths of the father-son duo P. Jayaraj and J. Benicks for violating Covid19 Curfew in June last year.
   3. Agartala (Tripura): DM was recorded on video physically manhandling citizens during the lockdown and was later suspended by the state government
4. emerged as human righhts concern:
   
   1. violates Art 21, Art 19 (as per National Police Commission’s 3rd report, 60% of all arrests made by police were unnecessary), Art 20(3) (Adopting third-degree tortures and methods to extract the information from the accused is in clear violation)
   2. Violates Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
   3. Violates the maxim “Salus Populi Est Suprema Lex” i.e. the safety of the people is the supreme law

Question 15

Police Atrocities: Challenges in curbing the misuse of power by Bureaucrats?

Answer 15

• India has not criminalized custodial violence: India also does not have an anti-torture legislation
• Non-implementation of SC Prakash Singh case (2006) order: Also, Recommendations of the 2nd ARC and the Supreme Court for constituting independent complaint authority to inquire into the cases of police misconduct have not been implemented by most of the States.
• Police force lacks accountability and impunity: Only the executive can sue a police officer and any inquiry against the officer need prior government approval.
• Perception of quick justice: 80% of police personal believe the use of violence by them is justified while 50% of citizens also believe so (“Status of Policing in India Report, 2019” by Common Cause)
• Underfunded, under-trained and understaffed Police force: Even the money under the Modernization of Police Forces (MPF) Scheme have not been fully utilized (BPR&D data)
  
  • This leads to undue pressure on police to solve the case without having the requisite resources to do it.
  • Nearly 12% of police personnel never receive human rights training (Common Cause and CSDS-Lokniti, report)

Question 16

Police Atrocities: suggestions?

Answer 16

• Law commission report implementation:
  
  • 273^rd report: those accused of committing custodial torture – be it policemen, paramilitary and military personnel – should be criminally prosecuted instead of facing mere administrative action.
• Legal Measures:
  
  • Section 197 of CrPC should be amended: This will ensure that prosecutors do not need the permission of the government before pursuing charges against police in cases such as arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, torture, and other criminal acts.
• Administrative Measures:
  
  • DK Basu judgment (1987) guidelines of SC should be strictly implemented: E.g. notifying the next of kin of the arrested person, medical examination of the accused was made mandatory, preparing memo at the time of arrest in front of a witness, etc.
• Judicial measures: Magistrate’s Role: magistrates must prevent overreach of police powers by inspecting arrest-related documents and ensuring the wellbeing of suspects by directly questioning them.
• Monitoring and implementation of DK Basu judgement by independent and balanced civil society individuals at each level, under court supervision, will help in minimizing it.
• Adequate training to the police force: Training on modern, non-coercive techniques for suspect and witness interviewing and questioning as well as on respecting human rights aspects.
  
  • CCTVs inside police stations, use of Body cameras (as is done in the U.S. and the U.K.) can ensure police restraint.

Question 17

Police atrocities: DK bassu judgement?

Answer 17

Includes four crucial and comprehensive judgments – in 1996, twice in 2001 and in 2015 – laying down over 20 commandments

1. The police personnel carrying out the arrest and handling the interrogation of the arrestee should bear accurate, visible and clear identification and name tags with their designations. The particular of all such personnel who handle interrogation of the arrestee must be recorded in a register.
2. That the police officer carrying out the arrest shall prepare a memo of arrest at the time of arrest and such memo shall be attested by at least one witness, who may be either a member of the family of the arrestee or a respectable person of the locality from where the arrest is made. It shall also be counter signed by the arrestee and shall contain the time and date of arrest.
3. The person detained, shall be entitled to have one friend or relative or other person known to him or having interest in his welfare being informed, as soon as practicable, that he has been arrested and is being detained at the particular place
4. The time, place of arrest and venue of custody of an arrestee must be notified by the police where the next friend or relative of the arrestee lives outside the district or town through the Legal Aids Organization in the District and the police station of the area concerned telegraphically within a period of 8 to 12 hours after the arrest.
5. The arrestee should, where he so requests, be also examines at the time of his arrest and major and minor injuries, if any present on his /her body, must be recorded at that time.
6. The arrestee should be subjected to medical examination by the trained doctor every 48 hours during his detention in custody by a doctor on the panel of approved doctor.
7. The arrestee may be permitted to meet his lawyer during interrogation, though not throughout the interrogation

Question 18

Consider the following statements.
1. The Constitution empowers the President to regulate the recruitment and the conditions of service of the persons appointed to public services and posts under the Centre.
2. According to the Constitution, the civil servants of the Union hold office during the pleasure of the President, and those at the state at the pleasure of the Governor.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer 18

B

Article 309 empowers the Parliament and the state legislatures to regulate the recruitment and the conditions of service of the persons appointed to public services and posts under the Centre and the states, respectively.
Article 310 essentially conveys that civil servants of the Union hold office during the pleasure of the President, and those at the state at the pleasure of the Governo

Question 19

Can civil servants express their views on law and governance?

OR

Is Rule 9 of Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules violation of Article 19 of the Constitution

Answer 19

• Context: A senior IAS officer, Smita Sabharwal from Telangana, tweeted from her personal account in support of Bilkis Bano and questioned the Gujarat government’s decision, sparking off a row over whether she was in breach of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules of 1964.
• views against expression of views by civil servants
  
  • Disciplinary rules. They prevent a government servant from becoming a member of a political organization, or any organization of such a nature, or expressing herself freely with regard to anything that has to do with the governance of the country.
  • Rule 9 of Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules: No Government servant shall make any statement of fact or opinion, which has the effect of an adverse criticism of any current or recent policy or action of the Central Government or a State Government
  • Freedom of speech is given in the Constitution, but these are Conduct Rules and they are imposed because there has to be some discipline in an organization for that organization to function.
• views in support
  
  • Laws by the legislature: A fundamental right cannot be curtailed except by a valid law made by a legislature.
  • Lipika Paul v. The State Of Tripura: The court said, a Government servant(the petitioner) is not devoid of her right of free speech, a fundamental right which can be curtailed only by a valid law.”
    
    • Subject to not crossing the borders laid down in the Conduct Rules which were applicable in Tripura.
  • Kerala High Court: One cannot be prevented from expressing his views merely because he is an employee.
  • Constitutional principles and rule of law: The dharma of the civil servant is to uphold constitutional principles in letter and in spirit and the rule of law.