Undue political interference in transfers biggest malaise

Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra finds himself in the eye of a storm after a video of him accusing the police of being corrupt has gone viral. Angered by the police failure to check cattle smuggling in Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga districts, the minister is heard saying, “You take money from them and sleep like dogs. The entire police system is rotten. You do not want to live only on your salary, but on leftovers.” Jnanendra was quick to clarify that he did not mean the entire police force was corrupt, though there were some shortcomings. A few months ago, the police top brass had received a tongue lashing from Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai who while addressing a conference of IPS officers, had pointed out, “You as senior officers wear stars on your shoulders. Are you not ashamed to engage brokers to strike deals? Do you know that a broker gets four times more salutes than you get?” A politician calling the police corrupt may be akin to the pot calling the kettle black, but the outbursts of both the Home Minister and the Chief Minister reflect the current reality in the state.

Also read: Complaint against Karnataka Home Minister for his remarks on police

Perhaps, the biggest malaise confronting the police force is the undue political interference in transfers, with elected representatives dictating who should be posted to their constituency. Such officers usually end up becoming stooges of the local MLA. While paying a bribe was always the order of the day for transfers in the lower echelons of the police, in the past few years even IPS officers have not been spared by politicians. In addition, often officers are also required to pay a monthly ‘mamool’ to the local MLA and other political bosses and such demands cannot be met from their meagre salaries unless they indulge in largescale corruption.

Though the Supreme Court has held that all transfers above the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police should be decided by the Police Establishment Board (PEB), this remains only on paper. Transfers were largely insulated from corruption when Ajai Kumar Singh was the Director General of Police as he stood his ground against politicians, but the same cannot be said of most others who held the post. To make matters worse, the Anti-Corruption Bureau has miserably failed to bring the guilty to book. While it is a good sign that the Chief Minister and Home Minister have recognised the fault lines, they should first set their own houses in order and stop the practice of bribe-for-postings and monthly pay-outs if the credibility of the police force has to be restored.