Police reforms the Supreme Court ordered in 2006
In 2006 the Supreme Court ordered seven changes to shield the police from political pressure and make them answerable to the public. A 2020 review found that no state had fully carried them out.
Open for ideas, evidence and questions.
What we know
In Prakash Singh v Union of India (22 September 2006), the Supreme Court directed every state to set up a State Security Commission, choose the police chief from a panel and give senior officers a minimum two-year tenure, separate investigation from law-and-order duty, set up a Police Establishment Board for transfers and postings, and create Police Complaints Authorities at state and district level. A National Security Commission was ordered for central forces. The deadline was 31 December 2006.
A 2020 review by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative found that no state had fully complied, and that many new state police laws diluted the directions.
Open questions
- Which of the seven directions has your state carried out on paper, and which work in practice?
- Does your state's Police Complaints Authority exist, and how many complaints did it decide last year?
- Who actually decides police transfers in your district?
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