Should the Indian Army have been called in to help restore peace in the capital? This is one of the key issues that has been raised over the course of the violence that engulfed northeast Delhi from Sunday, 23 February onward.
While the violence originated in clashes over the Modi government’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act, it soon took on a communal flavour – Hindu and Muslim communities and neighbourhoods have been devastated, with mosques and Muslim shops/vehicles targeted.
As the death toll in terms of confirmed figures continues to rise, one thing which appears to have been clear is that the response of the Delhi Police was inadequate, even though the situation eventually seems to have been brought under control – not least thanks to the efforts of Justices Muralidhar and Bhambhani of the Delhi High Court.
Initial reports that the police had informed the Centre that they didn’t have the necessary resources have been rebuffed, but Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also came out on Wednesday saying that the Indian Army should be called in to restore law and order.
While the question of whether the army should have been brought in or not is one for security experts, one question which is worth asking at this point is: If there was actually a need to call in the Indian Army in Delhi, what is the procedure to do so?
The answer is quite complicated, thanks to Delhi’s special status. Or statuses, to be more accurate.
THE COMMISSIONERATE SYSTEM
The first way in which Delhi works differently is because of the commissionerate system. This was recently in the news after Lucknow and Noida were also made commissionerates, following in the footsteps of over 50 cities across the country.
In areas which do not follow this system, the police report to the relevant District Magistrate as ‘police’ is a State Subject under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
This means that the police have to coordinate with the DM for law and order operations, including riots or conducting surveillance. As a result, if the army needs to be called in in any of those cities, it is the DM who will have to make a request to the Ministry of Home Affairs – or if there is a breakdown of law and order, the military commander of the area directly.
In a city with a commissionerate system, however, the Commissioner of Police reports to the relevant state government, not the DM, and so any request for the army deployment will go through that state government. This is the default system in Indian states, as police is a State Subject under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
LAW & ORDER AND THE DELHI GOVERNMENT
But that’s where the second way in which Delhi has special status comes into play.
Delhi does not have full statehood, and so the Police Commissioner doesn’t report to the ‘state’ government there. Under the Government of the National Capital of Delhi Act, and Article 239AA of the Constitution, the responsibility for law and order in Delhi rests with the central government – and so the Delhi Police Commissioner reports to the Centre, not the elected government in Delhi.
This does not put it in the same position as a Union Territory, however, where the Lieutenant Governor has to approve a request for army deployment from the chief secretary from the bureaucracy.
Speaking to The Print, for a story by Revathi Krishnan, former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said that the process that is to be followed in Delhi is a unique one, as follows:
- Deputy Commissioner of Police makes a request for deployment of the army to the Commissioner.
- Commissioner forwards the request to the Lieutenant Governor.
- Lieutenant Governor then reaches out to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
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