State Security Commission

15.46 We have already given our views on the scope of the power of superintendence of the State Government over the police and the necessary limitations within which that power has to be exercised if the police were to function as servants of law truly and efficiently. It would not be enough to secure the desired objective if lofty principles are merely enunciated and the existing control mechanism is allowed to operate in practice without any change. There is immediate need to devise a new mechanism of control and supervision which would help the State Government to discharge this superintending responsibility in an open manner under the framework of law, with due regard to healthy norms and conventions that may develop in due course. For this purpose we recommend the constitution of a statutory Commission in each State which may be called the State Security Commission which shall have the State Minister incharge of police as the ex-officio Chairman and six others as Members. Two Members shall be chosen from the State Legislature, one from the ruling party and another from the opposition parties. They shall be appointed to this Commission on the advice of the Speaker of the State Legislature. The remaining four members of the Commission shall be appointed by the Chief Minister, subject to approval' by the State Legislature, from retired judges of the High Court, retired Government servants who had functioned in senior positions in the Government while in service, social scientists ox academicians of public standing and eminence. The Chief of Police will ex-officio function as Secretary of this Commission which shall have its own Secretariat for the transaction of its business. Arrangement of funds for the functioning of this Commission will be made on the same lines as for the State Public Service Commission.
15.47 The term of the Members of the Commission (other than the Chairman) shall be three years. any among the four non-political Members were to join a political party after being appointed to the Commission, he shall immediately cease to be a Member of the Commission and the vacancy shall be filled by fresh appointment from the non-political category.
15.48 The functions of the State Security Commission shall include—(i) laying down broad policy guidelines and directions for the performance of preventive tasks and service-oriented functions by the police ;(u) evaluation of the performance of the State Police every year and presenting a report to the State Legislature ;(iii) functioning as a forum of appeal for disposing of representations from any police officer of the rank of Superintendent of Police and above regarding his being subjected to illegal or irregular orders in the performance of his duties ;(iv) functioning as a forum of appeal for disposing of representations from police officers regarding promotion to the rank of Superintendent of Police and above; and(v) generally keeping in review the functioning of the police in the State.
15.49 The Commission shall devise its own procedures for transaction of business. It shall be open to the Chairman and Members of the Commission and also the Chief of Police to bring up for consideration by the Commission, any subject falling within its jurisdiction.
15.50 The Commission shall meet at least once every month and may meet more often, if required by the Chairman or Members of the Commission or the Chief of Police for considering any particular subject proposed by them.
15.51 As the Chairman of the Commission, the Minister-in-charge of police will be able. to project the government point of view during the Commission's deliberations. Any policy direction or guidelines Which the government desire to issue shall have to be agreed to by the Commission before they are passed on to the police for implementation. However in an emergency, the Government may directly issue a, policy direction or guidelines in regard to a specific situation, but such direction or guidelines shall as soon as possible be brought before the Commission fix ratification and be subject to such modifications is the Commission might decide.
15.52 In recommending the constitution of a State Security Commission as outlined above, we have taken into consideration the various suggestions received in this regard from different sections of the public as also the services in response to our questionnaire in which we had posed this suggestion and sought their reactions. Analysis of the replies received to our questionnaire shows an interesting pattern of response. A majority of respondents from the administration outside the police have favoured strengthening of the existing executive control without the intervention of a separate Commission as proposed. On the other hand a large majority of police officers have wholeheartedly welcomed the constitution of such a Commission. Leaving aside these sections of services which are intimately and directly involved in the present arrangements and, therefore, may be biased one way or the other, we find that a good majority of the other respondents from the judiciary, lawyers, businessmen, elected representatives and the general public have favoured the idea of such a Commission.
15.53 The constitution of the Security Commission as visualised above would ensure its overall nonpolitical character though it would, in its internal deliberations, have scope for taking into account political views as may be reflected by the Chairman and the two political Members. When we discussed the proposed set up of the Commission with a cross-section of the public as well as services in different States, we heard comments that in the present set up of the country it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find a non-political being 1 We consider this to be a somewhat cynical and defeatist view of the matter. We are firmly of the opinion that a beginning has to be made to set up an institution like the proposed State Security Commission to ensure political neutrality in police performance. There may be reservations and doubts to begin with, but we are confident that as the system gets going, it would soon acquire maturity and effectiveness to the satisfaction of the general public.