THURSDAY, MAY 09, 2024
Goa police officers at regular intervals tend to be in the news for wrong reasons. Be it allegations of corruption, misbehaviour with people at public places or using brutal force against peacefully protesting activists, the alleged acts of misdemeanour is certainly doing a great disservice to the reputation of a very fine force.
The top officers seem to be subservient to their political masters and not to the people. Some say that the problem lies in the training. But the point here is that, irrespective of whether you are trained or not, whether you are efficient or not, your functioning is completely dictated either by political forces or your own need to be corrupt.
Now even that own need to be corrupt is also linked to the powers that you are serving. There is a growing number of articles in the media about misconduct of police and people are more inquisitive about the matter, because some senior there are
allegations against some very senior police officers.
“Definitely it’s a matter of concern because our police structure’s hierarchy is like a pyramid structure. The base comprises the lower subordinates (he constabulary), then comes the PSIs and then the PIs, the DySPs and ASPs. The IPS officers occupy the topmost portion,” former Superintendent of Police (SP), Mahesh Gaonkar said.
“Misbehaviour by a senior police officer definitely leaves a very bad impact on the lower rung. They will get emboldened or they’ll feel they can also try this. This really sets a very bad example and what hurts me is although like any other profession, we too have black sheep. What I feel is they seem to be exceeding the good ones. This is a bad sign,” Gaonkar said.
“In last five or six years, we have had so many bad officers who are thrusted or pushed on us. Being from AGMUT cadre, they were pushed into Goa and they have not only miserably failed, they have also spoiled our Force. No doubt, there have been very good IPS officers in Goa. We learned so many things from them, be it investigations, the command, the handling of law and orders and many such aspects of policing,” the former SP said.
“Today also there may be very good IPS police officers in Goa, but you know there are certain black sheep, who can go to such an extent of misbehaving with ladies in pubs, bars and indulging in nefarious activities. This will definitely tarnish the image of Goa police and it will give a boost to wrong people in the Force to do further wrongs,” Gaonkar said.
The feeling seems to be that the whole Force seems to be pivoting around money in the sense that money dictates the entire functioning of the Force from the time recruitments happen, decisions that are and the whole political manipulation that also takes place.
Former MLA and advocate Radharao Gracias said that one can’t selectively point out only the police for the malice.
“According to me, the entire system is corrupt. The police are perhaps at the top of the list in that system of corruption. Essentially, I would say that our way of life is inclined towards corruption and when the Portuguese ruled here, whether we like it or not, whether you call me irrational or unpatriotic, the fact is the Portuguese appear to have been much more honest than the rest of us,” Adv Gracias said.
“The Portuguese imposed their own honesty on the local police or on the bureaucracy and as long as they were here. It’s difficult for me to come across anyone - be it a Catholic or Hindu - who does not say the Portuguese were honest. This tradition continued till around 15 years or so after liberation and during that period of the MGP, I can say with absolute certainty that corruption had not made its inroads into Goa, whether police or any other profession on a very high scale,” he said.
“The trouble started after 1980. That’s the time politically we joined the national mainstream. Earlier it was MGP and UGP. We may have differences with MGP or UGP, but they were local parties. If we had not joined the mainstream national politics, things wouldn’t have been so bad. The moment we did it, corruption became a way of life. You can’t you cannot run away from it now and it isn’t just the police force. At every level there is corruption now,” he said.
Adv Gracias added that almost every police officer looks for a plum posting. One can interpret plum the way one wants, but there are certain police stations which are highly lucrative. Whether one should be posted here or not is decided by the politician. Therefore, the concerned officer negotiates with the politician to get the posting.
“So, the first thing that should happen is the transfers of police personnel should be beyond the control of their political masters. Now if that happens, police may be a little more independent. But I know that the moment an officer acts independently, he is
immediately transferred,” the senior
lawyer said.
In 2014, when Michael Lobo was a relatively younger BJP MLA and the party was in power, his exact comments were, “the people of Calangute are losing faith in the police personnel attached to the police station due to the rise in crimes and corrupt practices.”
He went on to say that “crimes in the coastal belt of Calungute are taking place with the involvement of the police officers and staff. I can surely say that the Calangute police station is one of the most corrupt police stations in the entire State.”
Without going into the merits or demerits of this particular comment, the police force does get demoralised when senior officers misbehave with women.
The question is, if we only look at the situation of an IPS officer molesting a woman or misbehaving with them or a constable in Colva who was recently suspended for running a robber’s gang, should we also be careful of the fact that these incidents should not hide the basic problem which is politicisation and corruption in the police force.
There are rotten apples with bad character. That is one aspect of it. But the bigger disease (which is like stage 4 of cancer) is the level of corruption and at times the corruption is not necessitated by corrupt officers at the junior level, but because of dictates that come from politicians.
Trajano D’Mello, President Lokacho Adhar and political analyst said that the system is corrupted to such an extent that people have lost faith in every government institution.
”Police are more in the focus because they are involved with people’s issues directly everyday and in almost every situation. Today the situation is such that no honest person, who is really in trouble and is the victim, would like to go to the police station to lodge a complaint. But the moment he goes there, he’s treated as an accused while the real accused goes scot-free. This is happening every day, in every police station. So, the police station has become like a centre for settlement,” D’Mello said.
“I can tell you, there are people, who know that X will be the station officer on that day and will commit a crime accordingly on that particular day. Then there’s a whole tampering with the FIR. The accused is brought, arrested and released. There is zero conviction,” he said.
“You take gambling for example. It is happening every day and the police watch like a mute spectator. How will people have faith in the system? Take the example of this DIG who misbehaved with a lady. The joke is, this happened when the Assembly session was on. The pitiable state of the Assembly was that the MLAs demanded his suspension and be sent back. The person, who is supposed to maintain law and order, should be strictly made an example. My demand would be to file an FIR, set up a fast-track court, so that other officers don’t get emboldened,” the senior political analyst said.
When asked about his opinion on the popular perception that majority of the police force is dishonest, social activist Rama Kankonkar said
“One thing which I would like to make very clear is that in the last five to six months, during my interactions with the police personnel, I have heard good things about a police officer. But, when I was questioning them, that’s when I realised that they were completely lying. In fact, there was one point where a PI said he arrested an accused from Marcel, while the DySP said the same person was arrested from Patto while going towards Panjim,” he said.
“Now fact is, both are lying. If one person is saying that the same person was caught in Marcel. So how will people believe in such information? We all know that the politicians interfere in the functioning of the police department. But in the end, we cannot directly interact with the politicians. We will have to go to the police station and when we find the police are trying to protect the accused, we will definitely blame them,
because we expect justice from the police,” he said.
The initial 10-15 days following a crime, is very crucial for investigation as the matter will be heard in the court and the judges scrutinise the evidence collected by the police. If the evidence is not strong enough, the case falls in the court and the accused
is acquitted.
“Now, police are collecting the evidence against the Banastarim accident case accused. There are 29 CCTV cameras from the Banastarim bridge till Nandanvan hotel, which was the venue for the party, where the accused had gone. Have the police seen and analysed the CCTV footage? I am very surprised with the police statement that since the purse of a lady was on the other seat, it means that she was not driving. I am unable to understand how this conclusion was derived?” Kankonkar said.
When asked if this was due to lack of training and incompetence or for favouring the powerful, the activist said it was both.
“The thing is, there is a lack of training and pressure from the top. Why I’m telling you this is because, when the incident happened at 7.45 pm, we all knew people gathered there. There is technology available, which can be used for investigations, like tracking the call details through the mobile numbers. In the Banastarim accident case, I didn’t find the police taking the aid of technology to investigate the case,” he said.
“Tell me one thing, after the accident happened, it was the duty of a police officer to take both the people (Sawardekar couple) for their medical test. But it was not done in this case,” Kankonkar said.
”So it is very clear that the technical aspect of the training for police officers is not up to the mark. You need to have a presence of mind to decide what to do next in a critical situation. Just contact the police officers and say that I want all the call records of the suspect or accused,” he said.
“I may not know who was driving the car, but if you trace the call record, you will get to know all conversations leading up to the accident. This can help plug a lot of gaps,”
he said.
The thing is there is a lot of political pressure to turn an investigation in one way or the other. How do upright officers deal with such a situation?
“Frankly speaking, I never receive any pressure regarding investigation or asking me to do wrong from right. I never got such phone calls. Maybe they were aware about my attitude or they did not dare to do this. But there were phone calls asking about the case and what had happened,” former DySP Gaonkar said.
“When I used to arrest an accused after registering a criminal case, the only thing I used to be told over the phone is ‘Mahesh don’t hammer him’. I’m telling you because I was known for that. Legally, it is wrong and they used to request that I should not hit him. So I said fine. If my case is solved, there is no question of using third degree or anything of that sort,” Gaonkar said.
“But there were people who would call up and ask if I could help them in the case, to which I used to refuse outright or see to what extent the person could be helped. We used to see whether it was a billable offence or not. Actually, we are supposed to bail him out immediately. But it is normally an instinct of the police to keep a criminal for maximum time in police custody,” he said.
“In case of bailable offences, so we would finish our formalities and release him as soon as possible. That guy also felt that we did a favour. We have to maintain the balance in the society and I never had any objection releasing the accused in such cases. Even today I would not blame any police officer for giving such leverage or little bit of facilities to maintain their rapport in the society,” he said.
When asked why so many investigations are ultimately leading to acquittals, Gaonkar said that except the victim, no one is bothered to find out how many cases have resulted in acquittals and convictions.
“I always say this because there is a system nobody is following. These cases should be analysed. Once the case is decided by the lower court or at Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) level, it should be discussed by a committee, which is chaired by the DySP,” Gaonkar said.
“The Sessions Court cases are to be discussed by SP and definitely you should take action in the cases which resulted in acquittal because of bad investigation. It should be followed till the time you don’t do this,” he said.
“But there is no accountability. So these are time-bound matters, in the sense you cannot wait till the crime takes place. You cannot say I am supposed to be off duty at eight o’clock. It goes on and on, especially in murder cases,” Gaonkar remarked.
“I will tell you, if you get 14 days remand of the accused, then within 14 days you have to finish that investigation. Get to the crux of the matter and build up the case as to how the crime happened,” he said.
“But, if you fail to do that, the case is gone and then finally during the trial, it then depends upon the Investigating Officer (IO) as to how he goes along with that case, with the public prosecutor, how he follows the deposition of the witnesses and how he helps the prosecution,” he said, adding, “it all depends upon the instinct of the police officer.”
The problem of poor conviction is not restricted to the Indian nationals only. Even when it comes to crimes against foreigners, the investigation doesn’t actually lead to any kind of conviction.
“See even the Apex court has taken cognizance of these issues. There are guidelines. There used to be a ‘Pairavi Officer’ who was supposed to go to the court and follow up all these cases which are being tried on that day. He was supposed to accost the witness and help him to recollect what he had stated in the statement under Section 161 of CrPC. Then tie-up with the public prosecutor, coordinate with him or her and get the witnesses which may not be available on time, he said.
“So these are all the things which are done in the interest of the prosecution or criminal justice system. Bringing the suspects with covered faces has become a style nowadays. I would be rather happy if the police publish the photographs of those who are convicted by court,” the former DySP said.
One really can’t understand the purpose of doing it because the point is, somebody who’s guilty of a serious crime should be seen by the people. The face is covered only when the accused is supposed to go through an identification parade, so that he is not seen by the witness. The stage photography is banned by law. One cannot take photographs of accused in police custody.
“By covering the faces, you don’t know whether this person is actually the criminal or someone else. The same question has come up in the Banastarim accident case,” Gaonkar said.
According to Adv Gracias, investigation has to be done in a very confidential manner. Only the IO and the Public Prosecutor may know what is happening. No clues are to be disclosed to the public, that is what the law provides here.
”If the defence counsel moves for getting bail for any accused, the court will hear arguments and will then tell the IO and the Public Prosecutor to produce the file. The investigation papers are then taken to the judge, who reads it in private. I as defence counsel or anyone else does not have access to that right now. The purpose of this is, the other side should not know what is happening. Now in this Banastarim case, the police officer had no business to inform anyone regarding from where the accused was arrested. These are things not to be known to public. I do not know what is going wrong with the Goa police,” he said.
“The police are going to the press and informing about every development. The police are creating a mess. I will not go into the details of that Banastarim case, but my feeling is that because of this kind of approach towards the investigation, the case may lose its traction and the activists should refrain themselves from saying who’s the accused. Every witness has virtually become a lawyer on the TV channels,” Adv Gracias lamented.
“It seems like you don’t need a five-year degree course now. The way they are discussing the case and concluding that A or B was driving the car at the time of accident, is not right. If you have evidence, give it to the policeman. Don’t talk to the press and make unverified claims. This is what is happening with us right now,” he said.
Moving away from the Banastarim case, the larger problem is the whole issue of the police force allegedly losing its integrity. But right now, this argument seems to be more convincing.
Adv Gracias said that integrity has never been there, hence there is no question of the Force losing it. This can be seen from the moment selections are made.
“Nowadays, when you have to pay from the time you are selected. You know, not very long ago a police officer informally talking to me said a RTO inspector pays Rs 25 lakh and a policeman pays Rs 15 lakh. This is what a police officer told me about 15 years back. In other words, a RTO inspector was paying more, which means his earnings were higher. See, you can’t run away from the fact that police officers at PSI level either have to be BJP activists or buy the position to get selected,” he said.
“Certain seats are reserved by the party for its hardcore workers or their sons and the rest are given to their party MLAs to collect money and they normally don’t sell to their own partymen,” the veteran lawyer said.
According to him, this tradition was there even during the Congress party’s rule as they are the “grandfather of corruption”.
“But now, even Rs 50 lakh has no value. Earlier Rs 4-5 lakh used to be a huge sum. The Congress started it all,” he said.
If the government or our subsequent governments use and misuse the police Force as a cash cow or an ATM to pick up money or quotas being given to police stations, is the money going to the top? Is it because corruption has become so endemic and nobody wants to get rid of it because people are happy swimming in it? These are some of the important questions that continue to haunt the common Goenkars.
Often, there is talk about initiating police reforms, which never happen. Police being a very vital institution in maintaining order and harmony in the society, it is important that the political leadership gives it more autonomy and allows it to serve the people and not them.
The widening gulf between the police and public is not a good sign for a healthy society. Because, the growing distrust in the legal system could lead to people taking up law in their own hands to “deliver justice” in their own way, just the way mercenaries do. This could lead to anarchy and chaos, which nobody wants.
