KOCHI: Coming down heavily on the police for using disrespectful words such as 'eda poda' while addressing the public, the Kerala High Court on Friday observed that the police should be polite when interacting with people. Considering a case regarding police excesses in Cherppu, Thrissur, Justice Devan Ramachandran directed the Director-General of Police to issue a circular instructing his subordinates not to use such words while dealing with the public. The petitioners alleged that the police misbehaved with them during checks as part of the implementation of COVID-19 restrictions.
The court also sought a report from the state police chief on the steps taken to implement the ban on 'Nokku kooli' (gawking wages) or the organised extortion by labour unions.
While considering another petition against demanding of 'Nokku kooli', the court said complaints relating to this have been coming before it on a regular basis. This was surprising as the government had already issued an order banning such a demand from any trade union. The court said that prima facie, it means that the government order has not been effectively implemented by the competent authorities. Hence, the court directed the government pleader to obtain necessary information from the state police chief on why this order has not been implemented -- if it has not been -- and the steps taken by the police authorities at various levels to do so. The court also suo motu impleaded the Director-General of Police as an additional respondent and issued notice to him.