Is police behavior decent? High Court seeks report from DGP

KOCHI: The High Court directed the DGP to submit a report within two weeks stating the steps taken by the police to implement the order to treat the people with dignity. Justice Devan Ramachandran gave the direction while considering a petition filed by JS Anil, a businessman from Thrissur. Earlier, the police were directed to stop the practice of addressing the public in a derogatory manner by using words such as 'eda' and 'edi'. Now the DGP has been directed to settle the petition.

Following the High Court verdict in the Babu Siddique case, the DGP had issued a circular on November 30, 2018, directing the police personnel to treat the people with dignity. Although this action was commendable, after three years, there are still many complaints in court that the police have misbehaved. The plaintiff's complaint was that the Cherpu SI had come to his shop and misbehaved. The petition was settled on the basis of a report submitted by the government stating the action taken.

Words such as 'Eda' and 'Edi' remnants of conquest tactics of colonial era: HC

• Words such as 'Eda', 'Edi' and 'Ni' are regularly used by the police. They are remnants of the conquest tactics of the colonial era. Such behavior is irrelevant in the 21st century.
• There have been complaints of such behavior even when Covid restrictions are implemented for public safety reasons. Complaints are often investigated by the police officers themselves and cannot be proven.
• The use of bad language by the police against the public is against the conscience of the Constitution and democracy.