Former IPS Amod Kanth Critiques Police Encounters, Calls for Criminal Justice Overhaul

Believing in the strength of Indian laws and the judicial system, former IPS officer and author Amod Kanth stresses that extra-judicial killings by the police are nothing but cold-blooded murders.

"Never in my entire career did I allow an encounter. I am of the firm belief that the police have no right to take shortcuts. Whether they are endorsed by the governments or the public, it speaks of a dangerous trend. We have seen many people showering rose petals on those who executed the encounter, and leaders boasting about them -- this is an extremely dangerous trend and will have major ramifications for the society and the justice system," he tells IANS during the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF)-2024.

In his latest book 'Khakhi on Broken Wings: Police Diaries Part 2' (Bloomsbury Publishing India), Kanth argues for the radical restructuring of the criminal justice system so that the police and the justice system can protect the helpless instead of being subservient to the rich and the powerful.

He writes about police and its role, and how the wings of the criminal justice system are fundamentally wrong.

Stressing they are the by-product of the 1857 revolt, and the IPC and other acts were framed in the same light, he adds, "Even now, the content and character, and provisions of the law, remain the same. The recent Criminal Reform Laws have not broken free from the past -- the majority are the same. The architecture of the criminal justice system would not change owing to these new laws."

In his new book, Kanth narrates the story of the mafia lord Romesh Sharma, who terrorized his targets to extort properties worth hundreds of crores and thwarted investigations using his access to the powerful in the political and corporate world.


He also recounts how 'Bikini Killer' Charles Sobhraj managed a sensational escape from the high-security Tihar Jail in Delhi and the complex story behind the fight for justice in the BMW hit-and-run case that left several people dead.

Kanth however stresses that the most difficult case for him to crack was the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. "Investigation-wise, it was the most complicated one. Let us not forget that it had an international angle too. Had it not been for the fact that the assassins were involved in a previous case, things would have been very tough for us. We conducted a methodical investigation that had many angles and layers. Cases like Charles Sobhraj and Jessica Lal were also important, but this was extremely complicated," he recounts.

The former IPS believes that it is important that every police station has an investigations department with its core competency in detective work. "These cops should focus only on that and should not be involved in law and order, traffic or other duties."


He feels that it is important that policemen be treated as humans, and facilities provided to others must apply to them too."When it comes to basics like weekly offs, better salaries, perks and holidays -- why should they not get them? You just cannot expect him or her to do his best if even the basics are not taken care of."

Talking about his next book, Kanth says, "I have a lot of material on some important cases including the Harshad Mehta one."- IANS