Police Encounters: Legal Or Illegal?

Brut India

Wondering what to make of police encounters? Here is a simple explanation on the subject from former top cop Rajan Singh.

Transcript

00:00First, let us understand whether police encounter is legal, allowed or not allowed?

00:10In what circumstances is it allowed and in what circumstances is it not allowed?

00:15Where is it written about police encounter?

00:18What is the law that gives the police the power to encounter and in what circumstances can it encounter?

00:27If you look at IPCC or PC, what do you find?

00:30Nothing.

00:31There is no mention of police encounter.

00:34So what is police encounter?

00:36It is very simple.

00:38I had discussed in another episode that not only the police but every person has the right to take action in self-defense.

00:49So police encounter is nothing but the police shooting in self-defense and if a person is killed in it, it is called police encounter.

00:59Suppose a person shoots and he has a way to catch the person without shooting.

01:07Hypothetically.

01:08In such a case, the police cannot shoot.

01:11And as I have discussed earlier, suppose a person shoots and if they come out with their hands up, they cannot be shot.

01:18So the next question is that if the police have the right to encounter if their life is in danger, then why is there so much controversy in it?

01:28The reason for this is that the people's trust in the police in India, especially the people's trust in the police is less.

01:37And you see, there have been many situations where the encounters have been fake.

01:46In some cases, the police have been convicted and have gone to jail.

01:51There have been many incidents in India in many places.

01:53So we do not have that much trust in the police.

01:56So whenever there is an encounter, even if it is right, many people believe that the encounter is always fake.

02:05It is not always fake.

02:06But there are two types, genuine and fake.

02:10So the next question is that how does the police encounter?

02:15What is its planning?

02:16What kind of encounters are there?

02:19So let me give you a broad idea.

02:22Some encounters are planned.

02:26So suppose, as I gave an example earlier, there is a house where two or four gangsters are hiding.

02:34And the police know that they are armed, they have guns.

02:37And if they go to arrest them, then bullets will be fired from there.

02:40So this is a planned encounter.

02:43When there is a planned encounter, the police are prepared for it.

02:47And they should have sufficient ammunition, body protection, shields, etc.

02:52And in that case, if there is a planned encounter, then normally there is no police casualty.

03:00But there is no guarantee for this.

03:02As you know, there was a battle house encounter.

03:05In that, Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma was killed.

03:11There was a kind of intelligence that there are terrorists there.

03:18But still, as much as is planned, there is always danger.

03:24In fact, there have been many incidents where the police were also injured and killed.

03:30But in many places, there are also fake encounters.

03:34But the belief that every encounter is fake is not correct.

03:39Let's take another example.

03:42Suppose, there was a shootout in Lokhandwala in 1991.

03:46Four bullets were fired there.

03:48And a film has been made on it.

03:51Shootout at Lokhandwala.

03:54So there was a lot of controversy on it.

03:56So people said that it is fake.

03:57Some people said it is genuine.

03:59Ultimately, there was a lot of inquiry in it.

04:02But it did not come out that the encounter is fake.

04:04That encounter is genuine.

04:05This was the result.

04:07Definitely, the fake encounters should not happen.

04:10But the encounter should not be illegal per se.

04:15This is not right.

04:16And this law has given the police not only the right but also the responsibility

04:21to take the necessary action to stop the crime.

04:24But this action should be done according to the law.

04:29For more information, visit www.fema.gov

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