The Kerala high court has asked the Director General of Police (DGP) to weed out criminals in the state police force. “Persons with criminal antecedents in the police force will not be allowed to continue in service in terms of the law” the court held.
A division bench comprising Justices Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and C.T. Ravikumar passed the order while considering a batch of petitions filed by candidates facing criminal cases seeking permission to complete their police training course.
“If the character of a cop is found to be not satisfactory, it would be perilous in public interest to allow him continue in public service,” the court ruled.
The court reiterated its earlier order dated June 21, 2011 and asked the DGP to take appropriate action after analyzing the criminal antecedents of the police personnel in the force.
“If the government is not satisfied by the character and antecedents of a person, his appointment shall be terminated without notice,” the bench held.
Regarding the civil police officers undergoing training, the bench held that the character and antecedents of these personnel needed to be verified. After this, the temporary appointments of those whose records are found to be satisfactory can be turned into regular service, it ruled.
The court directed the police to retrench persons who have been identified for retrenchment. “The uniformed, disciplined force of the police can ill afford to have the presence of a criminal or a probable criminal in its cadre” the bench held. The court recorded the AG’s statement that the state’s policy is to decriminalize the police force.
Any failure in compliance of the judgment could result in the DGP and other officers being held personally liable, the court held.
“It may also be a case where there would be a conscious infiltration into the training camp of the police by persons of criminal antecedents, taking advantage of the failure of the state government to issue verification reports on time,” the bench held.