What happened to police reforms? Supreme Court asks all govts to file report

New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre and all state governments on the issue of implementation of its direction on police reforms in light of the recent incidents of police personnel beating up a girl in Punjab and school teachers in Patna. A bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi pulled up the Punjab and Bihar governments and directed them to file affidavits within seven days on alleged brutalities of police personnel against common unarmed persons. "Issue notice to Government of India through Secretary of Home Ministry, all state governments and Union Territories (UTs), Chief Secretaries, Home Secretaries and DGPs of all states, Police Commissions of UTs on implementation of the court's directions in the Prakash Singh case on police reforms," the bench said. The court passed the order after it took suo motu cognisance of media reports about the two incidents of police personnel beating up a girl in Tarn Taran in Punjab and protesting contractual teachers in Bihar. On March 4, Punjab police constables thrashed a woman who had approached them along with her father for lodging a complaint against harassment by a truck driver and his accomplices in Tarn Taran district. In the other incident, Bihar Police personnel had on March 5 resorted to a baton charge and fired tear gas shells during a protest by contractual teachers outside the Assembly in Patna demanding regularisation of their jobs and pay parity with regular teachers.