‘Is it difficult for police to behave politely with public’, Justice Devan Ramachandran severely criticizes police

KOCHI: Justice Devan Ramachandran asked whether it is so difficult for the police to behave politely with the public. Directions were given asking them to behave in a civilized manner. He responded while considering the contempt of court plea against the officer V R Rineesh in the incident of insulting lawyer Aquib Suhail at Alathur police station.
The Kerala High Court had earlier said that work pressure is not a license to misbehave with people. ‘Be it a lawyer, a common man or a person living in a street, every citizen should be respected. I have been repeating this many times. How long should I say this? asked Devan Ramachandran.

‘Whether it's a policeman or a judge, if you wear that uniform, you should behave in a manner that suits your position. People have faith in that uniform. It does not mean exercising power over the people. If you show violence saying that it is pressure, it cannot be tolerated. If this is the case with the lawyer, what will be with the common man? Is it so difficult to be polite to people? Job stress is no justification for bad behavior. Police are trained to bear pressure, if you can't bear it, you should resign and go,’ he criticized.

Rineesh was transferred following court’s intervention over the incident. The court intervened after visuals of the sub inspector insulting Aquib Suhail, who came with a court order to get his vehicle in a case related to a car accident, came to light. When the case was considered last time, Rineesh said that he regretted the incident and was ready to apologize unconditionally. The court pointed out that the affidavit did not say whether bad words were used against Suhail or not.

Meantime, the court directed the state DGP to inform about the disciplinary action taken against Rineesh. The court also pointed out that the DGP himself has said that the officer should not misbehave with the people. The court has informed that the case will be considered again on March 1. The court has also directed the government to respond within three weeks to the plea filed by the advocates' association demanding that lawyers be provided with security to work.