A small-town boy when he donned the khaki at the age of 21, Bhim Sen Bassi spoke to Jatin Anand on transforming the Delhi Police, his admiration for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision and what he calls a “non-prejudiced” relationship with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal despite the raging stand-off between the Centre and the Delhi Government:
You assumed charge at a time when the image of your force was at a severe low; how does it feel to have successfully completed two years as the Commissioner despite such a tumultuous beginning?
It is a matter of immense satisfaction that I've completed two years serving the people of Delhi as a policeman. Policing as a service, after all, is an indispensable need of any society to preserve order in it.
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There is no souring in our relationship. Also, since the role of the police is defined by the Constitution, the issue of a stand-off does not arise.
Legislations passed by the Parliament define the responsibility of the police as an important part of society functioning in close coordination with other components such as the people, private institutions and civil society in addition to other organs of the government. We understand this fully well and, therefore, have no prejudices against anyone.
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There have been many changes in your force since your took over, but don't you think the Delhi Police needs to go a long way in terms of keeping up with the Prime Minister's vision of Smart Policing?
I've always believed that use of modern technology and methodologies enhance police efficiency and service delivery; in fact, I'm a great admirer of our honourable Prime Minister for urging the police to be smart. We have taken a number of steps in line with the objective through initiatives such as the Himmat app, online Police Clearance Certificates (PCCs), an online Motor Vehicle Theft registration facility, the 1064 anti-corruption helpline and the newly-launched helpline for crimes committed on trains, 1512.
Women's safety was, and remains, a major concern for the Delhi Police; how have procedures to tackle crimes against women transformed, if at all, with you at the helm?
Safety of women is among my top priorities; women police officers have not only been posted at all police stations, 24x7 helpdesks have been established at each of these so that any woman who happens to visit a police station is attended to by a woman officer.
Not just these, all rape cases are now being investigated on scientific lines by women officers and we are ensuring that chargesheets in all rape cases is filed within 20 days of the arrest of the accused. Any delay is monitored directly by joint or special commissioners concerned so that it may not fall prey to any laxity.
But there are many instances of complainants using the new, tough law to register vendetta-driven false complaints, too.
False complaints, if any, are exceptions. Women across the board are vulnerable to violence. Special provisions for redressing their complaints are sine qua non , or absolutely necessary, for empowering women and enhancing their security.
A few exceptions of misuse of legal provisions shouldn't deter us in our march towards strengthening women's safety. And, exceptional misuse is not unique in this regard; many other legal provisions are misused to settle personal scores in both private and commercial disputes.
What about sparring with the government over corruption?
There is no sparring. We are making our processes simpler and more transparent so that opportunities for corruption can be eliminated through digitisation of signatures, online police clearance certificates et cetera.
As far as the human element is concerned, we are in the process of installing CCTV cameras on PCR vehicles so that the activities of personnel can be recorded. We have also, recently, taken steps to eliminate opportunities of corruption by standing up for the rights of rehri patri walas.