The state government on Saturday dubbed the "misgivings" about the Bihar Police Act, 2007 as unfounded. "The new Act is aimed at making the police more accountable, bringing about a positive change in the police force and making it more people-friendly," CM Nitish Kumar said at a press meet. He described the hue and cry raised by the opposition over it as an "opposition for the sake of opposition". "Perhaps it is because of lack of knowledge. They should have compared the new legislation with the Police Act, 1861," he remarked. The press meet sought to dismiss the four major "misgivings" aired by the opposition and even a section of the civil society that the Act violated the Supreme Court order; was draconian and that the powers of the DGP and the SPs had been reduced. Apart from the chief minister, the press meet was also addressed by top brass of the civil and police administration, including chief secretary Ashok Choudhary, home commissioner Afzal Amanullah, DGP Ashish Ranjan Sinha and advocate general P K Shahi. Amanullah gave a power point presentation on the Act which received the governor's nod on Friday. Asked if he agreed with Amanullah's presentation, the DGP remarked, "I have not contradicted anything that the home commissioner has said and there is no scope for disagreement". Amanullah gave details of the Supreme Court case Prakash Singh and others vs Union government and others in which the apex court ordered the Union government and the state government to enact a new legislation which would replace the Police Act, 1861. He said the Supreme court had ordered creation of a state security commission, selection and fixing the minimum tenure of DGP, the IG of police and other field officers. It had also ordered separation of investigation from law and order and setting up of the police establishment board and police complaint authority. He said that the Police Draft Committee, comprising the chief secretary, home commissioner, DGP, ADG (headquarters) and advocate general, had held several meetings in the last three and a half months before preparing the draft Bill. It was discussed at the cabinet meeting twice before approval. Amanullah pointed out that the new Act had 97 Sections. "As many as 83 of these Sections have been taken from the Model Police Act, prepared by Soli Sorabjee and circulated by the Centre, and 11 retained from the old Police Act. The state government has added only three Sections — Section 9, which deals with the establishment of police stations to deal with atrocities on SC/ST, Section 16, which deals with building a sophisticated network, and Section 36, which deals with human rights violation by the police," he said. The home commissioner insisted that though the structure of state security commission and police complaint authority had been altered, the spirit of forming these bodies had been retained. "Bihar has 40 police districts. Creation of separate police complaint authority would mean a huge financial burden on the state," he remarked. CM Nitish Kumar said, "We welcome any informed debate on the Act. It is always open for review if anything wrong is found in it."
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