Politics must not govern scope of probe by NIA and ATS, say experts

With both the National Investigation Agency NIA and the AntiTerrorism Squad ATS investigating the Ambani bomb scare case and the murder of Thanebased businessman Mansukh Hiran experts are of the opinion that there should be proper coordination and cooperation between the state and central agencies and that they should not bend under any kind of political pressure or dictumSecurity outside Antilia was beefed up after a car laden with explosives was found outside the building last month File picAcademicians and social activists are of the view that both the state and the Centre should adopt the National Police Commission report which is still on paper because only then the investigating agencies would work more professionally and with accountabilitySenior criminal lawyer Dinesh Tiwari said ldquoTheoretically and legally both the agencies should work professionally honestly and in close coordination with each other But practically at least one agency if not both will be guided by political dictum While following orders of corrupt politicians justice becomes a casualty The only ray of hope is the high court monitoring the investigation like a supervisory officer like it did in the Telgi and MPSC scam cases in the past And both the cases led to incarceration of many highranking peoplerdquoAdvocate Tiwari further said ldquoDifferent agencies coming out with different findings has become a very common thing nowadays In fact framers of the law would not have foreseen this kind of eventualityrdquoAdvocate Rajeshwar Panchal said ldquoOnce an investigation has been taken over by the NIA then it goes without saying that the previous agency should give all the material collected to it This will help towards achieving the goal of bringing out the truth Needless to add that the new investigating agency should also carry out a fair investigation without getting influenced by any political interferencerdquoAdvocate Swapnil Ambure who practises criminal law said ldquoThe very purpose of forming these special units like the NIA or ATS gets defeated when politics govern the nature and scope of the investigation If the agencies work together and assist each other the truth can come out Contradictions in their investigation will favour the accusedrdquoAdding to this Solicitor Stuti Galiya said ldquoIt is the responsibility of an investigating agency to conduct a transparent and efficient probe An investigation for which different agencies have been appointed needs proper coordination and handholding so that it is done in an effective mannerrdquoAcademicians speakDr Vijay Raghavan professor Centre for Criminology and Justice Tata Institute of Social Sciences TISS said ldquoThe police force is the most important wing of the state and the moot issue here is that every state wants to control it and curtail their autonomy to work independently Same is the case with central investigating agenciesrdquoWhen asked to elaborate Dr Raghavan explained ldquoOver the years several committees were set up by the government to look into reforms of the police system in India which was enacted way back in 1861 The National Police Commission had come out with nine reports on how to reform the police system in India between 1979 and 1981 but most of it is still on paper even today A landmark PIL filed in the Supreme Court by retired DGP Prakash Singh had insisted for implementation of the key recommendations to which the apex court in the year 2006 gave specific directions to the central and state governments to carry out structural changes in the police system with a view to insulate it from extraneous pressures and make it accountable to the peoplerdquoPolice subordinationHe further added ldquoThe subordination of the police has threatened the foundations of democratic functioning by allowing people in power to get away even with violations of laws This has resulted in violations of the rights of citizens through unauthorised detentions torture harassment fabrication of evidence malicious prosecutions etc The solution lies in implementing the National Police Commission recommendations in letter and spirit and by giving the police autonomy and making them accountable Only then the state and central agencies can work professionally without any undue influencerdquoMohammed Tarique director of Koshish which is working on issues of urban poverty especially homelessness destitution and institutional populations said ldquoUnfortunately issues and concerns regarding the quality of investigation or independence of the police come up whenever some highprofile case happens Police reforms are a longpending thingrdquoldquoWhile a courtmonitored investigation can bring some reassurance for the general public the question is whether that can be an answer to the police reforms Efficient and unbiased working of the police is critical for building citizensrsquo confidence in the legal processes Itrsquos high time that all necessary reforms and modernisation plans are implementedrdquo added Tarique