'Judicial magistrate must probe police encounters'

HYDERABAD: Police encounters should be probed by a judicial magistrate and not executive magistrates like collectors and tehsildars, said G Ramachandhra Reddy, former IG in united Andhra Pradesh.
"Rule of law is different from law. Rule of law is a principle of equity according to which no individual or agency can be a judge of his or its own cause.Whenever there is an encounter, the police order an inquiry under Section 174 (1) of CrPC. This is wrong as one cannot judge one's own cause. In fact, probe should be conducted by a judicial magistrate and not by an executive magistrate like collector or tehsildar. We need a new law on police encounters which satisfy principles of rule of law," said Reddy.
According to the former IG, the Centre should bring about an amendment to the CrPC so that it is applicable across the country. "In fact, Gujarat is the only country to have such an amendment in place. In 2006, under then chief minister Narendra Modi, Gujarat amended CrPC to ensure police encounters are probed by a judicial magistrate," said police officer who retired from service in 1998.
During his tenure, Ramachandhra Reddy worked in Central Bureau of Investigation for 8 years and is of the view that the present working of the agency is highly compromised. "What is happening right now is lack of independent spirit in unelected institutions represented by the collector and SP. As per law, council of ministers should have no say in working of police force. "When I was DIG of Anantapur, there were 31 circle inspectors working under me and despite pressure from politicians, I did not entertain a single transfer," he said. However, Ramachandhra Reddy did not last long as DIG Anantapur and was shifted in a year of posting and give charge of home guards.
Referring to what he called prevalence of judicial activism in country at present, Ramachandhra Reddy said under Article 124(2) of constitution, the President is the appointing authority of judges of Supreme Court and high courts. "However, this function has been taken over by Supreme Court under the device of the collegium system with judges appointing themselves. Similarly, SC struck down Section 303 of Indian Penal Code which prescribed mandatory death penalty. These are judicial encroachments into legislative and executive domain," said Reddy.
Ramachandhra Reddy was of the view the judiciary should be confronted. "For example on the issue of reservations in government jobs and educational institutions, judiciary cannot encroach upon governmental policy of the percentage of reservations (Presently, there is a cap of 50 per cent on the quota imposed by the SC). Apart from existing reservation, there should be a quota for economically backward classes and the 50% cap should be removed," he said.
Referring to the Swachh Bharat initiative, Ramachandhra Reddy said it was a welcome step taken by NDA government under Prime minister Narendra Modi. "This is essentially cleansing corridors of public power - corruption, crime and abuse of office, what can be called triple evils," he said.
After joining police force as DSP in 1965, Reddy rose to become IG and is a recipient of several awards.