PANAJI
In what could bring a major change into policing if the proposed Goa Police Bill is cleared by the government, the Superintendents of Police and other senior ranking officers will be empowered with magisterial powers. This will expand their role beyond existing duties.
The draft Bill is most likely to be sent for legal vetting this week, and is expected to be tabled during the upcoming monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly. Sources said that the experts have largely incorporated the Delhi Police Act and Manual.
“The draft has envisaged a Commissionerate system akin to some bigger states. If approved and passed in the Assembly, SP and other senior ranking officers will exercise the powers of a magistrate in addition to their duties,” reliable sources in the government told The Goan.
It is also learnt that the Bill, which aims at police modernization, has detailed jurisdiction, organization and distribution of the police force in line with other states and union territories.
The Bill has been missing deadlines as it has been drafted three times in the past 16 years.
While it was expected to be discussed and passed during the Budget session of the Assembly held this month, it was postponed yet again. The reason, sources revealed, was because the Law Department had raised queries.
The latest draft, prepared last year, aligns with guidelines from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and also draws inputs from various police acts and manuals including those from Delhi and Mumbai. It predominantly incorporates rules from the Delhi Police.
The Bill had lapsed after the dissolution of the Assembly in 2012 while it has been pending for 16 years despite successive governments fully aware that its passage is crucial for ensuring transparency and accountability in the police force.
In 1995 the then government planned to pattern the Bill on the Singapore model. After several hurdles within the State owing to some controversial provisions, it was sent to the President for assent. Former President APJ Abdul Kalam rejected the Bill. The State government thereafter re-drafted the Bill in 2008 and tabled it in the Legislative Assembly in 2009.
