Reforms not possible in isolation: Justice Chelameswar

Hyderabad: Reforms in the system cannot be achieved in isolation, but only with the support of the people in a democratic society, no matter how many reforms are introduced, Supreme Court retired Judge Justice J Chelameswar has said.

Speaking at a book discussion on ‘The Struggle for Police Reforms in India’, authored by retired IPS officer Prakash Singh here on Wednesday, Justice Chelameswar said though people were aware of the Anti-Defection Law amended by the Constitution of India about four decades ago, political leaders continued to jump parties. “Great threat to democracy is from people who witness unlawful activities, but remain silent,” he said.

Sharing his struggles over the years towards police reforms, Prakash Singh said to keep alive democracy, police reforms were utmost needed in the country.

“We are the fastest growing economy, but due to corruption and internal issues, we are losing nearly 5 per cent of GDP each year. With regard to police reforms, the Central and State governments always have put up a blame game, but none of them supported it. The police need to be accountable to the people,” he said.

Stressing upon the need for police reforms, Telangana Today Editor K Sreenivas Reddy said reforms were needed in policing, but they were not happening.

“The book is a remarkable work and chronicles all the events which occurred over the years, evolution of the police until today, apart from the Supreme Court’s arguments. It can be a good study material for the police personnel during their training days,” he said, adding that a time when the country was witnessing various levels of threats including cybercrime, this was the apt time for pushing police reforms.

SVP National Police Academy former director Kamal Kumar, and Mazher Hussain, founder of Hyderabad-based NGO, COVA also spoke.