Extraordinary powers can be invoked only in extraordinary circumstances. Taking a leaf from their counterparts in cities like Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, the police in Chennai have invoked emergency powers to compel landlords to furnish the name, photograph, phone number, occupation and other details of their tenants. Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure grants any executive magistrate the power to issue orders in urgent cases of apprehended danger, though its use for something like tenant verification is highly questionable. Claiming that it was likely that “terrorist/anti-social elements may seek hideouts in the guise of tenants,” the Chennai police have sought particulars of tenants in the city. Landlords who fail to comply are threatened with six months jail. The context for this drive is the looting of two banks allegedly by a gang of persons from north India who were subsequently shot and killed in their rented apartment. Of dubious legality, the move raises disturbing questions relating to civil rights, public safety and privacy. Above all, it is a bad idea. Singling out tenants for scrutiny seems to betray an age-old bias against migrants and those without property. True, the details of property owners are available with the land registration department, but the police have, so far, not shown any intention of accessing them for integration with their centrally collated data on tenants.
The invocation of Section 144 powers may have been going on in different cities for years to compel landlords to provide information but it is high time this was challenged. If the police are allowed to read such sweeping powers into the CrPC, there is no limit to the kind of information they may seek in future. Citizens could be told to maintain a register of family and friends visiting them from other parts of India, for example. In 2001, public outcry forced the erstwhile NDA government at the Centre to scrap the Foreigners (Report To Police) Order, 1971, under which citizens were threatened with imprisonment if they didn't inform the police about the presence of foreigners in their homes. If the authorities want to gather information on landlords and tenants as a means of streamlining the rental process in cities, let them do so through a specific statute. Using emergency powers is overkill. The police should also not labour under the illusion that tenant verification will help fight crime. Terrorists and anti-social elements have the means to prepare fake identity papers. Crime prevention requires better policing methods and intelligent deployment of manpower. This is where law enforcement priorities should lie, not in turning landlords into spies.
