Once I was sitting at a Police Station when a local leader walked in with information and desire for information. After his need for information regarding arrest of some of his supporters and action on his complaints was satiated, he launched into a diatribe on all that was wrong with everything around him. He raved and ranted about how the PWD engineers were indulging in corruption on an unimaginable scale, how much the general public was duped by them and so on. I asked him why then he always targeted the Police in his critical speeches all the time and never mentioned PWD. He said if he talked about even grand corruption by any other department, people might hear but would not listen. On the other hand, even petty corruption by Police strikes a familiar chord with his audience. As a leader, he needed to say what the people wanted to hear. This is one of the reasons Police corruption is talked about so much – corruption by the Police is much more visible. However, that doesn’t wish away the problem. Whether corruption is more in the Police than in other departments and agencies or less, Police corruption is a stark reality.

How and why does the Police corruption take place? Actually, Police functioning is one of the most supervised government services. The rules and regulations are watertight, the inspection and monitoring systems are rigorous and there are layers upon layers of supervision. Why then? Part of the answer (but not the whole answer, by any means) lies in the origins of Policing in India.

During Mughal rule, there was only rudimentary policing although terms like Daroga, Kotwal, etc. seem to be of Mughal origin. During this period and early British rule, the Policing function did not command a salary. The person entrusted with the job used to collect cash and kind from the population and traders in his area to pay the compensations for himself and his staff. The biggest source of income used to be the weekly haats (markets) and thus hafta became synonymous with Police corruption.

For a while, the zamindars were held responsible to control the crimes committed in their areas. Lord Cornwalis reforms of 1792 removed this responsibility but tasked the zamindars to report crimes. This created an anomalous situation as crimes and criminals became a major source of income for the zamindars and it was in their interest not to report the crimes. When the Policing was organized along more professional lines, the accountability to the public was conspicuous by its absence in the ethos and the working. With that background and the constant need to keep the official crime figures down, suppression and minimization of crimes/ cases got deeply entrenched in the Police DNA even though as per law, every complaint, even a false one, is mandated to be recorded as an FIR. In case of a false complaint, there are provisions to prosecute the complainant, but only after registering the FIR. Police can refuse investigation but only after due documentation and recording valid reasons in writing. There is no discretion to refuse to even accept a complaint. Unfortunately, this “unavailable” discretion is used for serious corruption.

When I was an IPS probationer and was visiting my brother studying in Delhi, his bicycle got stolen. I accompanied him to the Police Station to lodge a complaint. Then I realized how difficult it was to register an FIR in India. It would be hours before the duty officer would even look at you. If and when he does, he would bark rudely as to why you’re disturbing him. This particular duty officer demanded Rs. 100 to lodge the FIR. When I introduced myself as an IPS probationer, he said, “Aarey aap toh ghar ke hain, 50 rupaya mein ho jayega.” A discount! The Police Station was in the office complex of the DCP and this was happening literally under the DCP’s nose. I had to meet the DCP to manage to lodge an affair FREE OF COST. As to the investigation … my brother is still waiting for any news and I have retired from the service.

The situation was bad when I joined the service. Later, it was worse rather than better.

In my cadre, for any officer working in outlying districts, a visit to the state HQ on official work used to be nightmarish. There were two government guest houses which used to cater to all of us from different services and many times, the rush was too much. One had to practically beg and plead with the concerned officials for accommodation. Other suitable accommodation was beyond the reach of our pockets and the travelling allowance. After a lot of efforts, the IPS officers pooled in certain resources and, with a bit of help from the government, managed to create an eight-room IPS Mess in the city in the early 1990s. This was a godsend and made all of us feel relieved while visiting. Long years later, when I returned to the cadre after a central deputation in 2009, I checked into the IPS Mess and had to stay there for about two months before getting official quarters. I was surprised that for almost the entire period, I was the lone occupant in the Mess. Intrigued, I asked the Mess officials how come. They said, things had changed for the better. The officers of the outlying districts preferred to stay in 5-star hotels when they visited. Change for the better indeed! The pay and travelling allowances remained a pittance. When I quizzed further as to who paid for the 5-star accommodation, there was a telling silence …