Madras High Court orders district panels to stop police personnel being used for household work

The Hindu
The Hindu
2h ago
The Madras High Court directed the Tamil Nadu Home Secretary to form district-level monitoring committees within two weeks to prevent serving or retired police officers from using uniformed police personnel for personal or household work.
Madras High Court orders district panels to stop police personnel being used for household work
A What happened
The Madras High Court directed the Tamil Nadu Home Secretary to constitute district-level monitoring committees headed by district Collectors to ensure uniformed police personnel are not used for personal or household work by serving or retired police officers. The court ordered the committees to be formed across Tamil Nadu within two weeks. The bench said trained police personnel were being used for tasks such as cleaning shoes, cooking, and running errands despite the ‘orderly’ system being abolished in 1979. Advocate General P.S. Raman said the Home Secretary had issued a letter to the DGP and top police officials stating uniformed personnel should not be deployed for personal or household work and that OSD deployment required DGP authorisation.
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Key insights

  • 1

    Court questioned SP-led oversight: The bench said letting Superintendents of Police head monitoring committees may not serve the purpose because, in most cases, those officers use police personnel for household work.

  • 2

    Judge linked the practice to risks of misconduct: Justice S.M. Subramaniam said continuing the practice could tempt officers toward corruption, filing false cases against citizens, and not addressing genuine complaints.

Takeaways

District-level monitoring committees led by Collectors were ordered to be set up within two weeks to enforce the ban on using uniformed police personnel for personal or household work in Tamil Nadu.

Topics

World & Politics Policy & Regulation Governance Law & Public Safety Law Enforcement

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