Policies/Regulation | Harassment – Others

To ensure public safety and maintain law and order in the major cities of the state – Bhopal and Indore, the state government has framed Madhya Pradesh Jan Suraksha Evam Sanraksha 2018 Bill, in which, the police department will be handed magisterial power.  The bill proposes to implement the commissioner system and intends to act as a panacea for all crimes.

The draft proposal of the Bill has several strange provisions including the one that gives the police power to keep one locked inside their house for as long as they wish. The police can exercise full control on social media, can conduct inspection of the buildings or homes without any search warrant, and even a police constable would have power to arrest, according to its provisions. Moreover, Section 25 of this draft will not allow any suit or legal action against the police officers for complying with the provisions of the act.

A provision in the Section 20 of the draft proposal deals with direction for undertaking security measures for maintaining internal security, public safety and order. Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced last month to introduce police commissioner system in Bhopal and Indore in the election year, owing to the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.