The police play vital role in the administration of the criminal justice system. It is their responsibility to preserve public order and reduce crimes through preventive patrol and other prescribed police measures to maintain law and order and protect integrity in the community. However, the behaviour of Kerala Police forces has been dreadful over the past few months ever since the Left government assumed power in Kerala. On many occasions, Kerala Police Officials are seen attacking common people, opposition leaders and protestors. Protestors are surrounded by the policemen, beaten up and are repeatedly assaulted.

In September 2006, the Supreme Court of India in Prakash Singh v. Union of India mandated the setting up of Police Complaints Authorities, independent oversight bodies at the state and district levels across the country. Kerala is considered in implementing this decision with authorities having been set up and functional at both state and district levels. But, in reality, the acute politicization of police forces in Kerala has made police fearless to commit barbaric crimes. State police complains authority with national and state human rights commission have been continuously warning the state government regarding the magnitude of the situation but there seems to be no effect or any action. There are various instances of custodial death, torture, third-degree cruelties, corruption, contract crimes, victimizations, unlawful arrest, illegal detention, harassment, ill-treatment and failure in taking action. A study has found that police continue to torture irrespective of its prohibition by the Supreme Court in Kishore Singh v. State of Rajasthan in which the court held that torture in any form is violative of Article 21 of the Constitution.

The torture employed by police in Kerala is mainly to extract information, torture for admitting guilt, torture in retaliating against abuse of power by police, torture due to political influence by the party and torture due to bribery. Therefore, torture by the police takes place very frequently for different reasons in Kerala. Various studies reveal that illegal detention takes place very frequently in Kerala which is a clear violation of Article 22 of the Constitution, Section 41D of Criminal Procedure Code and Supreme Court’s direction in D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal. Such police criminalities are a severe attack on the Right to Life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Acute politicization of police forces has made police feel protected and fearless to commit barbaric acts. These ongoing police brutality is Left Government’s political trick because Left leaders want to show that they have ultimate power in the state for which they need police who is loyal to them and brutal to the public. Therefore, it leaves no doubt that the police forces are driven to political lobbying in the State of Kerala.

In 2018 a police officer assaulted a retired railway official for allegedly obstructing the governor’s convoy. After the incident was widely reported, state police chief Loknath Behra directed district police chiefs to regularly train their personnel in the art of dealing with the public. However, the training has not yielded any results because even after this the Kerala police has faced many complaints about misbehaving with the public. Most of the policemen found involved in criminal activities become pliable instruments in the hands of their political bosses. No strong actions are taken against officers and they continued to remain in their respective positions. Sometimes out of public and media pressure the authorities take immediate action of suspension. But for the Left Government, suspension is just an eyewash tactic to fool the public. After six months, the suspended officer is quietly given the same post or a higher one or a transfer letter. The CPI(M) leader of the house never fails to defend his police chief and forces in the state assembly. Most of the postings in the force are decided by the CPI(M) party functionaries of respective areas and the ecosystem is such that officers cannot function without the consent of CPI(M) leaders. Police also ensure that all evidence of a crime committed by party cadre are destroyed so that legal proceedings do not hold good in the court of law. The local CPI(M) leadership will try to cover up any case by just suspending a few officers.

With police brutality resulting in the deaths of George Floyd in the United States and that of Jayaraj and his son Bennicks recently at Sattankulam in Tamil Nadu, Kerala government and LDF supporters have gone blind on any conversation regarding Kerala Police brutality. But communist supporters are very active in campaigning against the police brutality in George Floyd’s death. This calls out the hypocrisy of the Communist Government and LDF supporters. Communist condemn police brutality in other countries but for them, Kerala Police atrocities go unnoticed and are never called upon. It would be safe to assume that the actual number of torture cases in Kerala is much higher than what is reported in any part of the country. This shows the social and cultural flaws in the Communist Government and its supporters. The political leadership in Kerala need to understand that the neglected condition of the police system has a negative impact on the security and integrity of the state. It is high time for the Kerala police forces to be freed from the claws of their CPI(M) political masters and those who found favour with their new political masters. Police must act following what is right or wrong according to the law.

Source:

• The International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention Volume 1 issue 4 2014 page no.193-223 ISSN: 2349-2031, Violation of Human Rights by the Police in Kerala- A Study by Dr H. Abdul Azeez
• 2018 Case - https://scroll.in/article/875579/fifth-custodial-death-in-two-years-shines-harsh-light-on-kerala-polices-abuses

Image Credits: Kerala Police brutally assaults a protestor (Picture via Twitter)