UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL

STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF LAW
Subject Name and Code: POLICE & CRIMINAL
ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM
(23LBT-433)
VIJETA KUMARI, ASST. PROF.

OFFENCES AGAINST HUMAN BODY DISCOVER . LEARN . EMPOWER

 POLICE & CRIMINAL
ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM

Course Outcome
CO The students are able to recognize the evolutionary aspect of Police
1 system in India.

CO The students are able to classify different procedures and reforms of

2 Police in Criminal administration.

CO The students are able to compare and contrast different policies of

3 police administration and its effectiveness.

Will be covered in this

lecture
2
Historical Overview of Police System in
India
INTRODUCTION
• The term police have been derived from the Latin word ‘politia’ which means
the condition of a State.
• The term means, a system of regulation for the preservation of order and
regulation of law.
• It broadly refers to the purposeful maintenance of public order and protection
of persons and property from the commission of unlawful acts towards them.
• It also refers to the civil functionaries charged with the duty of maintaining
public order safety and enforcing the law including the prevention and
detection of crime.
Indian Police Service - Timeline

• In 1902 – 03, under Sir Andrew Frazer and Lord Curzon, a Police Commission was established. The
Commission recommended the appointment of Indians at the officers’ level (this was not permitted
earlier). However, Indians could only rise to the rank of Inspector of Police and were not considered
a part of the Indian Imperial Police.

• From 1920 onwards, Indians were allowed to be a part of the Indian Imperial Police and the
competitive exam for the same was held in London and India.

• From 1907, officers in this force were directed to wear the letters “I.P” on their epaulettes to
distinguish them from officers who were not recruited by the competitive exam by the Secretary of
State.

• In 1917, the label Indian Police Service was first referred to in a report by the Islington
Commission.

• In 1932, the name changed to just Indian Police.

• In 1948, in an independent India, the Imperial Police was formally replaced by the Indian Police
Service (IPS).
Police system was based on two principles:

• 1. the police must be completely separated from the military;

• 2. they must act as an independent body,

• 3. assisting the Collectors in the discharge of law and order responsibilities.

The system provided for an Inspector General of Police who was

responsible for the law and order of the entire province. Provinces
were divided into districts that were controlled by Superintendents of
Police who headed the police administration under the control of the
Magistrates. The main principles were not altered even by the
Police Commission of 1860, which is responsible for the current police
system in India. Recommendations of the Police Commission of 1902-
03 further improved the system to some extent.
Police System During Ancient India

• Origin of police can be traced to the early Vedic period as the Rig and the Atharva Veda
mentions certain kinds of crimes known to the Vedic people.

• In fact, evidence indicates the existence of security forces even in the Harappan
period. Though the exact reference of the criminal justice organization during the Vedic
period is not available, the Mauryan period exhibits important features of the same.

• Kautilya’s Arthashastra (310 BC) is a treatise on the criminal justice system. It reads
like a manual for police in modern times. There is a reference to DANVARIKA,
ANTEVANSIKA, PRADESIKAS, MAHAMATRAS, RAJJUKAS, and so on. There were 3 types of
police—dandpal, durgapal, and antpal.
Police System During Medieval India

• There is no mention of police organizations found anywhere. It may be so because

more focus was on conquests and military occupation without any serious attempt to
consolidate or run civil administration.

• The Muslim conquerors did try to implant the police system in line with one prevailing
in their homeland trying to fit it with the Indian social setting. The system of
administering justice, punishment, and policing was, however, Islamic and was based
on the Holy Quran.

• During the Sultanate period, the Hindu population was subjected to a different law and
the Pandits were associated to interpret the Hindu law and to give their opinion on it.

• Punishments were very harsh, following the Islamic law, such as flaying alive, cutting of
nose, ears, or forearms, trampling by elephants, and mutilation. All this must have led
to the generation of deep-rooted hatred for the police functionaries.
Police System in Modern India

British India Phase

• After the British victory in 1757 at Plassey and the decline of the Mughal Empire, whatever police
system was then in vogue became further corrupted in the area.

• In 1862, the Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code came into force. The Evidence Act
was enforced in 1872 and thus the Qazis, the Muftis, the Pandits along with Islamic law and the
Hindu law got replaced. Though changes were made in the administrative functioning by the
Britishers yet the Mughal framework for policing was retained. Ranks such as Kotwals, Thanedar,
Pargana, Darogah, continued. However, changes slowly came in the Perso-Arabic model and the
British way of policing was adopted.
Indian Police Act of 1860

• After the revolt of 1857, the British realized the threat of losing power and were determined to
ensure complete suzerainty and suppression of all challenges to their power. Thus, a Police
Commission was appointed in 1860, to make police an efficient instrument for the prevention and
detection of crime.
The current structure of the police system in India

• Article 312 of the Constitution of India mentions about the All-India Services. Probationers
recruited undergo very tough basic training in physical academics, arms, and other activities.

• According to the Constitution, the police force is a state subject. States draw rules, regulations and
guidelines for the police in the state police manual. The organization structure of police forces in
India is fairly uniform in all the states throughout the country.
• The head of the police force in a state is called the Director-General of Police (DGP). A state is
further divided into several zones, ranges, and districts. The district force is headed by an officer of
the rank of Superintendent of Police(SP). Group of districts forms a range which is headed by an
officer of the rank Deputy Inspector General of Police(DIG).
• Zones are composed of two or more ranges headed by an officer of the rank Inspector General of
Police(IG). Districts are further subdivided into sub-divisions like circles and police stations which
are headed by officers of different ranks. The district police are also divided into two branches—
the civil police and the armed police, where the former primarily controls crime, and the latter
deals with law and order situations and is also the reserved police of the district kept to meet an
emergency situation.
 REFERENCES

Textbooks
1. Jay Tilak Guharoy, Role of Police in Changing Society ( APH Publications, 1999).
2. Anand Swarup Gupta, Crime and Police in India (Sahitya Bhavan, Agra, 2007).
3. P.D. Sharma, Police and Criminal Justice Administration in India (Uppal
Publishing House, Delhi, 1985).

10
THANK YOU