Administrative efficiency should not risk public safety
In the administrative set-up of the national Capital, the Delhi Police has always enjoyed a dominant position given its pivotal role in implementing the 'permit-license raj'. Unlike the other states, the district police chief in the national Capital has always been a better known public personality than the deputy commissioner of the district.
This has largely been on the account of the power accrued to the force following the implementation of the commisonarate system of policing in the national Capital in 1978, with Chowdhary Charan Singh as the home minister of the country. This reform replaced the earlier system where the Inspector General of Police operated under the Divisional Commissioner.
The Commissioner of Police — always a senior IPS officer,earlier of the Inspector General rank and currently of Director General rank —reports directly to the Union Home Ministry and the L-G. Delhi was among the first few Indian cities to adopt the commisonarate system — a model later commended and replicated across major urban centres.
It did not just free the police from the superintendence of the civil administration but many a responsibilities earlier of the civil administration was delegated to the police as law and order issues. Among these included many powers of licensing and permit which were till then under the purview of the civic bodies.
This in turn, over a period of time, made the licensing postings much sought after giving Delhi Police the adage of a corrupt force.Both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court in several litigations involving 'dual licensing' too advised against police involvement in business licensing, identifying probable misuse and corruption as major factors.
It was observed in various quarters that the unbridled licensing powers did not just hamper the image of the force but also its effectiveness in handling its essential jobs of maintaining the law and order and crime control. Last week L-G Vinai Kumar Saxena through a notification, annulled the Delhi Police's regulatory role in licensing businesses like hotels, motels, guesthouses, restaurants, swimming pools, auditoriums, discotheques, video game parlours, and amusement parks.
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