Police Act – Soli Sorabji Committee - Report submitted
The Committee set up to draft a new Police Act to replace the Police Act of 1861 submitted its report to the Home Minister, The chairman of the Committee, Soli Sorabji said that the Committee has kept it in mind that police has to be given a people-friendly face.
The terms of reference of the Committee were:-
(a) To examine the Model Police Act prepared by National Police Commission and other draft Model Police Acts and suggest modifications as per the changing role/responsibility of police in view of the new challenges before it, especially growth and spread of insurgency/militancy/naxalism, etc.
(b) To suggest measures for attitudinal changes of police including working methodology, to elicit cooperation and assistance of the community rather than its distrust.
(c) The new Police Act should reflect expectation of the people regarding the police in a democratic setup.
(d) It should emphasise the use of scientific investigation methods to strengthen the criminal justice system. It should enable the police to tackle futuristic trends of organized crime including cyber crimes and technological advantages in the hands of the criminals.
(e) The concerns for human rights, weaker sections, women and the people belonging to scheduled castes/scheduled tribes have to be addressed.
The report contains 16 chapters and 114 pages and includes a model Police Act in 221 sections.