Even as the central government Thursday on January 4 apprised the Supreme Court of having formed a committee to pursue the police reforms as per its directions, various states have resented the guidelines saying they run contrary to constitutional provisions.
The central government constituted the Committee on National Security and Central Police Personnel Welfare headed by Home Minister Shivraj Patil and comprising National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan, cabinet and home secretaries and Intelligence Bureau director as its members.
The committee would prepare panels for appointment of chiefs of central paramilitary forces and review issues pertaining to the service conditions of their personnel and make appropriate recommendations.
Apprising the court of the November 14, 2006 meeting of various states’ chief secretaries and directors general of police to discuss the issue, the government said the meeting was followed up by another meeting of chief ministers on December 30.
But various states governments have resented the apex court directions.
In its affidavit, the Gujarat government said: “The directions are in direct contravention of constitutional scheme of allocation of powers as enshrined in the constitution. The constitution has specifically allocated ‘public order’ and ‘police’ to states. The directions therefore, impinge on the federal and basic structure of the constitution.”
Most of the states wanted the court to reconsider its September 22, 2006 directions saying there were several practical difficulties in implementing them.