Don't waste police force in ceremonial duties: Bombay HC

Mumbai, Aug 28: A division bench of Bombay High Court here has said that the police force should not be "wasted on futile ceremonial and protocol duties" in view of the rising crime and violence in the society.

The high court's observations came following a criminal writ petition filed by one Sneha Mankar, who alleged delay in the investigation regarding kidnapping of her son last December.

Last week, the High Court had summoned Director General of Police Sanjeev Dayal and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Amitabh Rajan to explain the delay in the case.

While the DGP was personally present, Rajan filed an affidavit through government pleader Nitin Sambre explaining that the delay was due to the staff crunch in the police department.

A division bench of Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice Z A Haq yesterday came down heavily on the practices like 'Guard of Honour' to all the constitutional functionaries, including judges of superior courts.

"This relic of yesteryears needs to be dispensed with and there is no point in stretching the police force to undertake such duties at the cost of crime investigation and maintaining law and order," the high court observed.

The high court also directed the authorities to ensure that protocol duties are minimised and the police force is used for investigation and other key policing tasks which are lagging behind.

It also asked that the ceremonial guard of honour should be accorded only at the district headquarters, where a large number of personnel are present at any given point of time.

PTI