BENGALURU: Many of the city’s police stations are facing staff shortage and are thus not equipped to deal with the increasing number of crimes.
The matter came up in the High Court on Thursday and Justice A V Chandrashekara said officials, after consulting the Home Minister, should set up an expert committee to work out scientific allocation of work to police stations, defining their jurisdiction and staff strength, and to delink investigation from law and order.
He also suggested that the government should establish a training centre in Bengaluru and open new police stations at the earliest.
Taking note of a plethora of problems in police stations across the city, Justice Chandrashekara said a station with a staff strength of 90 to 100 cannot handle more than 300 cases. So, there is a need to redraw the jurisdiction of many police stations, he said.
He added that if thorough investigation is not conducted, courts would have to acquit the accused no matter what.
“This court is optimistic that the authorities would...also do a similar exercise across the state. That would not only enhance the credibility of the system but also instil more confidence in the public’s mind,” Justice Chandrashekara said.
He asked the registry to send a copy of the order to the Principal Secretary, Home Department, the DG&IGP and the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner.
The Case
The judge made these suggestions in his order on the bail petition of a man booked by Madiwala police. Darshan T S, a resident of Electronics City, was arrested under Section 26 of the Juvenile Justice Act for employing children under the age of 16 in his bakery.
Justice Chandrashekara said the volume of work at Madiwala police station shows how burdened the city police are and as a result, requisite attention cannot be given to investigate such serious cases properly.
“As on October 16, 2015, the day this case was registered, there were 1,937 cases at Madiwala police station. On seeing the volume of work, this court is worried whether the police personnel can really conduct an effective and thorough investigation into cases registered this year or pending from previous year,” he said.