HYDERABAD: Even as Telangana police are going all out to make policing more people-friendly with several initiatives, some officers are ‘going beyond their remit’, with their non-people friendly acts and getting allegedly involved in civil and land disputes.
Though there are instructions time and again in this regard and strict guidelines from the Supreme Court on how to handle such issues, some officers, are bypassing them, for several reasons including pressures from local politicians and even their bosses sometimes. While many of them go unnoticed, a few of them are exposed and they end up facing disciplinary action, the latest being Kukatpally Inspector B Janaiah.
Many such officers who were allegedly involved in land disputes in recent times faced action, sending out a strong message. But it doesn’t seem to have a deterrence on the officials, leaving the force red-faced.
Officials posted in areas where urbanization is at its peak and land prices are skyrocketing are more prone to these issues.
According to sources, any official who has to handle a land or civil dispute that comes to him, is on a cutting edge, as the issues themselves are very tricky. To help the officials, the department is repeatedly conducting workshops, reviewing cases, issuing guidelines and has even a Standard Operating Procedure to handle these issues.
Accordingly, in any such case, the duty of the police is to first protect the rights of the party, who is in possession of the land for the longest time. If the other party has original documents and is a true owner of the land also, police has to first protect the rights of the party in possession and can direct the party claiming to the true owner to approach the court. Till the party claiming ownership doesn’t obtain an eviction order from the court, the party in possession will be the sole authority over the land.
As the disputes differ case to case, keeping higher-ups informed about the updates is important, as it can help the officer with better inputs from them.