The Year 2007 may just secure a place in history for the sweeping reforms that are set to take place in the 145-year-old Indian Police Act.

A landmark decision, prompted by the Supreme Court, will gradually unfold in months to come and ensure that police function as an efficient and impartial law enforcement agency, “fully motivated and guided by the objectives of service to the public at large, upholding the Constitutional rights and liberty of the people”. As a matter of fact, no comprehensive review of the police system at the national level have been conducted after Independence.

Now, after setting the stage for some phenomenal changes, the apex court is keeping a close watch on the developments for the revamp of the Act.

While issuing a slew of directions in September this year, Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal noted how several number of commissions, expert committees and recommendations from the highest echelons of power have almost failed to bring the desired changes in the 1861 Act. The Government, which had also realised the need for looking at the role and performance of the police, appointed a National Police Commission on 15th November, 1977.

In this backdrop of the changing paradigms of challenges that the police face, the court directed the States, Union Territories or the Central Government “to comply” on or before December 31, 2006, so that the bodies directed to be constituted “became operational on the onset of the new year”.

Making a significant observation, the Bench observed, “We can only express our hope that all State Governments would rise to the occasion and enact a new Police Act, wholly insulating the police from any pressure whatsoever, thereby placing in position an important measure for securing the rights of the citizens under the Constitution of the Rule of Law, treating everyone equal and being partisan to none, which will also help in securing an efficient and better criminal justice delivery system.”

“It is not possible or proper to leave this matter only with an expression of this hope and to await developments further,” the Bench said. The Bench also laid down essential guidelines to be observed till the new legislation is enacted.