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Issued order forming panels to eradicate ‘orderly system’: TN to HC
Tamil Nadu's government has formed district committees to end the 'orderly system' of using police for personal duties, following Madras High Court directives.
The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday informed the Madras high court that it has issued a government order constituting district-level committees headed by collectors to eradicate the “orderly system” – the long-condemned practice of deploying police personnel for the personal and household work of senior police officials.
Appearing before a bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and C Kumarappan, the state government placed on record a government order (GO) issued on January 21 this year, stating that it had implemented the court’s directions issued earlier this month, with minor modifications.
Advocate General PS Raman, who appeared for the government, told the court that as per the GO, a five-member committee will function in every district under the chairpersonship of the District Collector. The committee will include the District Revenue Officer (DRO), another officer of DRO rank nominated by the collector, the Additional Superintendent of Police (Headquarters), and another Ad.SP-rank officer chosen by the Collector.
The committees will have wide powers to gather information, receive complaints from any person, orally, in writing, or through electronic means, and initiate action to abolish the orderly system in the police department.
The GO explicitly says that no police personnel can be deputed for household or personal work of senior police officials. It directed that all such personnel must be reassigned to regular police duties.
Each committee will submit a report to the Home Secretary once every two months, the AG said. In Chennai, Coimbatore, and Madurai, the collectors will constitute multiple teams to ensure effective monitoring. The committees will convene their first meetings immediately and send periodic reports to the government before the 10th day of every odd month, Raman told the court.
The GO further states that on receiving complaints or reports from district committees or any other source, the Additional Chief Secretary in the home department will initiate appropriate action, including departmental and disciplinary proceedings against officials found violating the ban.
Recording the state’s submissions, the high court stressed the need for active monitoring and adjourned the matter by four weeks to review compliance.
The state’s GO follows sustained scrutiny by the Madras high court over the continued existence of the orderly system. In August, 2022, a single bench presided over by Justice Subramaniam took a strong stand against the practice and ordered its complete abolition. At the time, the judge had called the orderly system a “colonial slavery system” that violated the dignity of uniformed personnel and offended Article 21 of the Constitution.
Despite multiple court orders and government instructions over the years, Justice Subramaniam noted that the practice continued in various forms.
Then, earlier this month, while hearing the present case, unrelated to the one the Court had passed orders on in 2022, the bench of Justices Subramaniam and Kumarappan rejected a report filed by the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police claiming that the practice had been abolished across the state, citing news reports that suggested otherwise.
The bench then suo motu impleaded the State Chief Secretary and Home Secretary as parties in the matter and sought explanations.
The state’s GO was issued following orders in the present petition that was filed by an advocate, AR Radhakrishnan, seeking police protection. However, when the state authorities cited a shortage of personnel, the Court questioned how such shortages could persist if police personnel were not diverted for private work.
It had then called for an explanation from the state and issued directions once again to abolish the system.
