The Patna High Court has recently formed a committee led by the state’s development commissioner to expedite the construction of adequate police stations in Bihar.
A division bench comprising Justice CS Singh and Justice Madhuresh Prasad stated in its order, “We express our concern over the fact that in such matters which would have been normally taken care of by the Executive, this Court has been compelled to take suo motu notice of lack of Police Station buildings in the State of Bihar, which has resulted into registration of present writ petition in the nature of Public Interest Litigation”.
Given the nature of the concerns raised in the suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) regarding the infrastructure of police stations in the state, the bench had previously appointed Dr. Kamal Kishore Singh, Additional Director General of Police (Modernization), Bihar, as an Officer of the Court.
Earlier this month, Dr. Singh submitted a thorough report outlining the number of police stations that have been notified, the number of those police stations that have their own buildings, and the number of those police stations that operate in rented space. A list of these Police Stations that are no longer in use was also included in the report.
“The facts emerging from the figures as disclosed in the said report regarding work status as of 14.02.2023 are glaring,” the bench stated after reviewing the report. “According to the figures, 35 of the total 438 works sanctioned from fiscal year 2017-18 to fiscal year 2022-23 have been completed. The percentage of work completed out of total work sanctioned is minuscule, approximately 15.19%.”
It went on to say, “156 works were sanctioned for the financial year 2021-22. The chart clearly shows that no work has begun at the ground level in relation to the 156 works. Similarly, 152 total works were approved in 2022-23. Work progress is zero, implying that the tender process has not even begun.”
The bench was also informed that the Bihar Police Building Construction Corporation (BPBCC) is unable to effectively carry out the work of constructing police stations or outposts in the state due to a lack of its own infrastructure in terms of manpower and other issues.
Dr. Singh informed the court that the position of Chief Engineer in the BPBCC has been vacant for a long time, based on his discussions with BPBCC officials.
The division bench stated that the construction of buildings for Police Stations/Police Outposts is extremely important and cannot be ignored by the State respondents in the manner that it has been ignored thus far.
“As a result, we direct the State of Bihar to ensure that an officer of the rank of Chief Engineer is deputed in BPBCC immediately, and in no case later than one week from today,” the bench said.
The bench directed the Secretary, Building Construction Department, Government of Bihar to proactively coordinate with the BPBCC to ensure that the work of construction of buildings of Police Stations/ Police Out-Posts is expedited, citing the glaring lack of infrastructure available with the BPBCC, which has largely hampered construction of buildings of Police Stations/ Police Out-Posts in the State of Bihar.
While forming a committee to ensure the timely construction of adequate police stations in the state of Bihar, the bench stated that the Committee would be required to consider Dr. Singh’s suggestions regarding Standard for Modern Model Police Station Buildings.
According to the order, the constitution of the Committee shall be as follows:
(i) The Development Commissioner, Bihar;
(ii) The Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Government of Bihar;
(iii) The Chairman-cum-Managing Director, BPBCC; and
(iv) The Secretary, Building Construction Department, Government of Bihar.”
“With regard to providing funds for maintaining cleanliness at Police Stations, we direct the Director General of Police, Bihar, to take up the matter with the Finance Department, Government of Bihar, and after sanction of funds, prepare standard operating procedures for expenditure in order to fulfill the requirement under Rule 74 of the Bihar Police Manual,” the order further reads.
