Misra Commission Report :Delhi Riots 1984

Misra Commission Report

DELHI CHAPTER – 2

(A) GENERAL

In 1912 the province of Delhi was carved out and was placed in the administrative charge of a Chief Commissioner. In 1952 Delhi became a Part ‘C’ State and with effect from November 1, 1956, by the Seventh Amendment Act of the Constitution, Delhi became a Union Territory and came to be administered by the President through an Administrator appointed under sub-Article (1) of Article 239 of the Constitution —initially designated as Chief Commissioner and later Lieutenant Governor. Under Article 239A Parliament has authority by law to create, for certain Union Territories, a body to function as its legislature but Delhi is not covered and for its administration , Parliament has enacted the Delhi Administration Act, 1966, under which detailed provisions have been made for the carrying on of the administration. Section 27(3) of the Delhi Administration Act provides :

The functions of the Administrator with respect to law and order in Delhi , inlcuding organisation and discipline of the police force and with respect to such other matters as the President may time to time specify in this behalf, shall be exercised by him in his discretion.

Section 30 of the Act further provides :

Notwithstanding anything in the Act, the Administrator and the Members of the Executive Council shall be under the general control of and comply with such particular direction, if any , as may from time to time be given by the President.

In consonance with the provisions of the Act , Rules of Business have been framed. Maintenance of law and order subject to the control of the Central Government is thus a matter vested in the Lt. Governor to be exercised in his discretion.

On October 31, 1984, Shri P.G. Gavai was the Lt. Governor. Delhi has a Commissioner of Police as the head of the police establishment and at the relevant time Shri S.C. Tandon, IPS, held that post. The Union Territory has a large chunk of urbanised area under municipal administration and the remaining part which is rural is divided into two tehsils — Delhi and Mehrauli. The entire Union Territory is one revenue district in charge of a District Magistrate. By 1984, the Union Territory had been divided into five police districts, each being called a Range in charge of a Deputy Inspector General of Police (later, Addl. Commissioner of Police). For administrative convenience, an officer of the rank of Addl. District Magistrate came to be in charge of each of these five districts (now six — with New Delhi having become a separate unit). In October/November 1984, Shri R. S. Sethi, a member of the Indian Administrative Service, was the District Magistrate.

There are several Addl. Commissioners of Police earmarked for specific purposes such as Administration, Headquarters, Range etc. Below the Deputy Commissioner of Police in every Range there are Asstt. Commissioners of Police. The Union Territory of Delhi was then divided into 63 Police Stations. Each police station is in charge of a Station House Officer of the rank of Inspector and to every such police station are attached a number of Sub-Inspectors, Asstt. Sub-Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables.

From the census figures of 1941 it appears that the Union Territory had a population of 9,17,939 while the city of Delhi had a population of 6,95,686. There was a rapid escalation in the population following partition of India and independence. The census figures of 1951, 1961, 1971 and 1981 are given below :

The Sikh population in Delhi suddenly increased following the partition of the country and as per the 1981 census, the Sikh population of Delhi was 3,93,921 which works out to 6.33% of the total population of Delhi . The urban area has in recent years greatly spread out . Many outlying villages have come into the urban belt . Though there has been a swift rise in the population as also in the territorial belt and with urbanisation , criminal activity has increased and need for police control has also become more and more pressing , commensurate expansion of the police is said to have not taken place.

There exists acute problem of residential accommodation within the urban area though with development activity to build more of accommodation the city’s urban canvas has expanded and lots of new accommodation have been and are coming up . Since building activity is not commensurate , even people belonging to the middle income groups do not find residential accommodation for themselves . Thousands of people come to Delhi in search of employment . The acute shortage of accommodation has led to the appearance of jhuggis in and around all possible places . Notwithstanding constant vigil exercised by the Delhi Development Authority as also the Municipal Corporation , unauthorised constructions come up every now and then and Jhuggies in due course get regularised as authorised colonies . The existence of jhuggis with their poverty striken and underfed people in close proximity of multistoried modern fashionable buildings with the rich section of the society often gives rise to peculiar problems. Incompatibility in the living process between the two classes of people brings about in the poor section a sense of frustration and generates a sense of hatred as also a lust for the property of the well-to-do. In recent years respect for human life has been fast vanishing. Fear of, and regard for, law are also reduced. Moral convictions have perished. There is, therefore, anxiety to avail every opportunity by the jhuggi dwellers to cut the rich to size.

For more than a decade there has been consistent demand for augmenting the police force of Delhi. When the Delhi Police Act, 1978 was enacted to build up a vitalised police force the demand was examined in departmental records and a good number of conferences and debated as a basic issue. There was, however, no positive outcome of these exercises.

In recent years, in and around Delhi, there has been sizeable growth of industrial activity. Industrialisation has brought about increase of industrial labour and with it has come more of criminal activity. The criminal population within Delhi has also been on the increase day by day. Hardly a day passes free from criminal incidents. Broad daylight looting of Banks, killing of men, stabbing of persons, burning of brides, commission of suicides and a wide range of other criminal activities appear to have become a part of the daily normal routine of life in this region. There used to be regular police beats which on account of pressure of work have been abandoned for some time.

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