When their safety comes first for Mumbai Police

However, that’s just one aspect of it. The other is how the police would go about enforcing the circular regarding those who assault policemen. Among other measures, the order wants photographs, fingerprints and copies of the offender’s PAN card, passport, Aadhaar card, gun licence, driving licence and records of business or employment, a summary of the crime included with these documents, and sent to respective departments for cancellation of licences or passport applications and blacklisting on employment exchanges. The police also plan to send an adverse report to the employers of such offenders.

While the measures may intend to awe as well as to boost the morale of policemen who have been at the brunt of several attacks — serving and retired officers have welcomed the move — the fact is that there are settled procedures laid down by law with regard to the above measures that fall way out of police purview. For instance, an attack on a policeman would clearly lie outside the ambit of the Motor Vehicles Act that governs cancellation of a driving licence. Similarly, impounding a passport may not be as easy as it sounds. Many of the other penalties prescribed can only be enforced by amending laws or enacting

... contd.