The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the state government to completely abolish the system of revenue police within a year and transfer areas under its jurisdiction to regular police. Uttarakhand is the only state in the country where the revenue police system coexists alongside regular police.
Limited Powers of Revenue Police
Revenue police, staffed by revenue department officials, have limited powers, with only remote rural areas of the hill state falling under their jurisdiction. A division bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Rakesh Kumar Thapliyal, issued the order on Tuesday while hearing a PIL seeking the abolition of the system.
Previous Orders and Cases
The court had previously ordered the removal of the nearly century-old practice of revenue police from the state in 2018 while hearing a dowry death case that was handled poorly by the revenue police. Again in 2022, a division bench of the high court, comprising then Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice RC Khulbe, passed similar orders while hearing a PIL which alleged that the investigation into the murder of resort receptionist Ankita Bhandari would not have been delayed if it had been handled directly by regular police rather than initially by revenue police.
Govt Resolution
The orders were passed in a PIL which argued that had the government followed this order, there would not have been such a delay in the investigation of Ankita’s murder. The state cabinet also passed a resolution in October 2022 to abolish the revenue police system in a phased manner.
Supreme Court Observations
In the year 2004, the Apex Court, in the case of Navin Chandra vs. State Government, recognized the need to abolish this system. The SC observed that the revenue police are not given training like regular police. It also noted that the lack of basic facilities makes it difficult for the revenue police to properly review a crime and emphasized that there should be a uniform system of policing in the state.
