Lucknow, Noida to get police commissioners with full magisterial powers, people say ‘Inspector Raj’ is back

CAA violence impact: UP gears up to adopt Police Commissionerate system to empower police further like Maharashtra

Weeks after the CAA violence which killed 19 and left scores injured, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has decided to adopt police commissionerate system which gives police officers magisterial power making them directly accountable for law and order.

A detailed proposal in this regard is likely to be tabled in the cabinet meeting on Tuesday which will pave the way for appointment of police commissioners in Lucknow and Noida, two most crucial cities in the state, on the lines of Maharashtra.

Both the districts lack police chiefs at present. While the SSP of Lucknow Kalanidhi Naithai was transferred, the SSP of Noida Vaibhav Krishna was suspended by the government on Thursday in an explicit video chat case.

As per speculations, both the appointments could be done on January 14 or 15 itself, on Makar Sankranti. Inspector General rank officers would be considered for the post.

At present, big cities in Uttar Pradesh have Senior Superintendent of Police as the in-charge while smaller cities have superintendent of police.

Now, an inspector general level officer is supposed to become CP. The CP is likely to get two additional commissioners of DIG rank and a few deputy and assistant commissioners.

The police department has been seeking this change for years, however, Indian Administrative Services officers were reportedly against the move as it seeks to curtail their power.

As of now, magisterial powers lie with district magistrates and his deputies who are IAS and PCS officers. If the commissionerate system, district magistrates will be left with revenue related work and decisions regarding law and order, including giving permission for programmes and issuing various licences would rest with the police commissioners.

The move was initiated during Mayawati regime also but could not be implemented as IAS and IPS officers were at loggerheads over the issue.

In December 2018, former Governor Ram Naik had suggested that to make law and order better the commissioner system be introduced on a trial basis in Lucknow, Kanpur and Ghaziabad where the populations exceeded the 20-lakh mark.