The cinematic image of a “hero cop” delivering quick
justice without bothering about the due process of law, as shown in blockbuster
films like Singham, sends out a very harmful message, said Justice Gautam Patel
of the Bombay High Court.
Speaking at a function organised by the Indian
Police Foundation to mark its annual day and Police Reforms Day, he also
questioned people’s “impatience” with the process of law.
Talking about police reforms, the judge said that
the Supreme Court’s judgement in the Prakash Singh case was an “opportunity
missed”, and also noted that the law enforcement machinery cannot be reformed
unless we reform ourselves.
The image of police as “bullies, corrupt and
unaccountable” is a populist one and the same can be said about anyone in the
public life including judges, politicians and journalists, he said.
When the public thinks that the courts are not doing
their job, it celebrates when the police step in, the judge said.
“This is why when a rape accused is killed in an
encounter while allegedly trying to flee, people think it is not just alright
but it is celebrated. Justice has been served, they feel, but has it?” he said.
This view is deeply pervasive and reflected strongly
in our popular culture, especially in Indian cinema, Justice Patel noted.
“In movies, police rail against judges who are shown
as docile, timid, thickly-spectacled and often very badly dressed. They accuse
courts of letting the guilty go. The hero cop delivers justice single-handedly,”
he said.
“Singham movie has especially shown in its climax
scene where the entire police force descends on the politician played by
Prakash Raj… and shows that justice has now been served. But I ask, has it,”
Justice Patel said, adding that we should think “how dangerous that message is.”
“Why this impatience? It has to go through a process
where we decide innocence or guilt. These processes are slow…they have to
be…because of the cardinal principle that the liberty of an individual is not
to be confiscated,” he added.
If this process was abandoned in favour of “shortcuts”,
then “we subvert the rule of law,” said Justice Patel.
Singham (2011), an action film directed by Rohit
Shetty, is a remake of the 2010 Tamil film of the same title and stars Ajay
Devgn in the lead role as a police officer.
Earlier, talking about police reforms, Justice Patel
said when going through the top court’s 2006 judgement on police reforms in the
Prakash Singh case, he comes away “with a distinct feeling that this was an opportunity
missed”.
“….The focus was perhaps too narrow…only on
police reforms…there is a much wider dialogue…a broader conversation that
we must have,” he said.
Police reforms cannot be seen in isolation and there
are other significant reforms that are necessary, Justice Patel said.
He salutes Prakash Singh – the former Uttar Pradesh
Director General of Police who had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking
reforms in the way the police machinery functions – for his undaunted and
untiring efforts in making police reforms a reality, the judge added.
PTI
