Law enforcement in India


Law enforcement in India is imperative to keep law and order in the nation. Indian law is enforced by a number of agencies. India has a multi-layered law enforcement structure with both federal and state/union territory level agencies, including specialized ones with specific jurisdictions. Unlike many federal nations, the constitution of India delegates the maintenance of law and order primarily to the states and territories. State governments have the legislative and administrative powers in matters relating to the police, public order, prisons, and prosecution.
Under the Constitution, police and public order is a subject governed by states. Therefore, each of the 28 states have their own police forces. The centre is also allowed to maintain its own police forces to assist the states with ensuring law and order. Therefore, it maintains seven central armed police forces and some other central police organisations for specialised tasks such as intelligence gathering, investigation, research and record-keeping, and training.
The Central Government supports State Governments by providing financial assistance for the modernisation of State Police Forces and by sharing intelligence inputs through central security and intelligence agencies to prevent crime and maintain law and order.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs is the national ministry responsible for internal security, domestic intelligence, boarder management and the coordination of central and state law enforcement agencies in India. It includes Central Armed Police Forces and Central Police Organizations.
Larger metropolitan cities have their own police forces under their respective state police. The Indian Police Service is an All India Civil Service, which provides leadership at senior ranks across state police forces, central armed police forces, central investigative agencies, intelligence and regulatory bodies.

Central agencies

The Central Government has established a number of Central Police Organisations to fulfill diverse law enforcement and security roles.
These CPOs can be broadly categorized into two groups:
Central Armed Police Forces : These are armed police forces responsible for internal security, counter-insurgency operations, and border guarding. They include organizations such as the Assam Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and Sashastra Seema Bal.
Central Police Organisations : This group comprises organizations that perform specialized functions such as police research and development, criminal investigation, intelligence gathering, police training and forensic science. These include:
In addition, there are police training institutions, such as the National Police Academy and the North Eastern Police Academy. There is a Railway Protection Force that functions under the control of the Ministry of Railways.
Some intelligence and investigating agencies under the Ministry of Finance also do policing work. They are involved in collecting intelligence and investigating economic offences pertaining to customs, excise, income tax, foreign exchange, money laundering, and narcotics smuggling. Some of these are the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence, Directorate of Enforcement, Financial Intelligence Unit, Directorate General of GST Intelligence, and Directorate General of Income Tax.
Most federal law-enforcement agencies are under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The head of each agency is typically an IPS officer. The constitution assigns responsibility for maintaining law and order and policing to the states and territories, and almost all routine policing—including the apprehension of criminals—is done by state-level police forces. The constitution also permits the central government to participate in police operations and organization by authorizing the creation of the Indian Police Service.
File:National Police Museum New Delhi India.jpg|alt=Museum exhibit, with uniformed mannequins|thumb|300 px|upright=1.2|Exhibit of the Railway Protection Force, Rapid Action Force, National Security Guard, and Intelligence Bureau at the National Police Memorial and Museum in New Delhi.
Central police forces can assist a state's police force if requested by a state government. During the 1975–77 Emergency, the constitution was amended on 1 February 1976 to permit the central government to deploy its armed police forces without state permission. The amendment was unpopular, and use of the central police forces was controversial. After the Emergency was lifted, the constitution was again amended in December 1978 to restore the status quo.

Ministry of Home Affairs

The principal national ministry concerned with law enforcement is the Ministry of Home Affairs, which supervises a large number of government functions and agencies operated and administered by the central government. The ministry is concerned with matters pertaining to the maintenance of public peace and order, the staffing and administration of the public services, delineation of internal boundaries, and the administration of union territories.
In addition to controlling the IPS, the Ministry of Home Affairs maintains several agencies and organizations dealing with police and security. Police forces in the union territories are under the MHA. The Minister of Home Affairs is the cabinet minister responsible for the ministry; the Home Secretary, an Indian Administrative Service officer, is the ministry's administrative head.

Central Armed Police Forces

Border Security Force

The Border Security Force is responsible for policing India's land borders in peacetime and preventing trans-border crimes. A central police force under the Ministry of Home Affairs, its duties include VIP security, election supervision, guarding vital installations and counter-naxal operations.
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, which highlighted the inadequacy of the existing border-management system, led to the formation of the Border Security Force as a unified central armed police force mandated with guarding India's boundary with Pakistan. The BSF's policing capability was used in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, against the Pakistani Armed Forces, in areas which were the least threatened. During wartime or when ordered by the central government, the BSF is commanded by the Indian Army; BSF troops participated in the 1971 Battle of Longewala in this capacity. After the 1971 war, responsibility for policing the border with Bangladesh was assigned to the force.
Originally charged with guarding India's external borders, the BSF has been tasked with counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations. When insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir broke out in 1989 and the Jammu and Kashmir state police and the thinly-deployed Central Reserve Police Force needed extra force to cope with spiraling violence, the central government deployed the BSF to Jammu and Kashmir to combat Kashmiri militants.
BSF operates a Tear-Smoke Unit at its academy in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, which supplies tear gas and smoke shells for riot prevention to all state police forces. It operates dog squads, and runs the National Dog Training and Research Centre. The BSF, one of several Indian police forces which have its own air and water wings, provides helicopter, dog and other support services to the state police.

Central Industrial Security Force

The Central Industrial Security Force's primary task is to provide industrial security. It guards industrial installations nationwide which are owned by the central government, secures seaports and airports, and provides security for certain non-governmental organizations. The CISF provides security for nuclear-power plants, space installations, mints, oil fields and refineries, heavy-engineering and steel plants, barrages, fertilizer units, hydroelectric and thermal power stations, and other installations partially run by the government.

Central Reserve Police Force

The Central Reserve Police Force's main objective is to assist states and union territories' law-enforcement agencies in maintaining law and order and containing insurgency. It is deployed as an anti-terrorist unit in several regions, and operates abroad as part of United Nations peacekeeping missions.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police

The 90,000-member Indo-Tibetan Border Police is responsible for security along the Indo-Tibetan border and its surrounding areas. ITBP personnel are trained in maintaining law and order, military tactics, jungle warfare, counter-insurgency, and internal security.
They were also deployed to Indian diplomatic missions located in Afghanistan.

National Security Guard

The National Security Guard is a commando unit originally created for counter-terrorism and hostage-rescue missions. Founded in 1986, it is popularly known as the "Black Cats" for its uniform. Like most military and elite-security units in India, it avoids the media and the Indian public is largely unaware of its capabilities and operational details.
The NSG draws its core members from the Indian Army, and the balance is support staff from other central police units. An NSG team and a transport aircraft is stationed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, ready to deploy in 30 minutes.