Chandigarh Police personnel are being made to work for more than 8 hours and they are not even getting weekly off. Retired Head Constable Jagjit Singh of Chandigarh Police had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court four years ago regarding this issue.
The hearing of this case was pending due to Corona, but now the Supreme Court will summon and hear the petitions related to the police of Punjab, Haryana and other states on February 19.
Research report included in PIL
Head Constable Jagjit Singh has included the research report of Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) and Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad in 2014 in his PIL.
This report states that due to long duty and not getting weekly off, policemen are becoming victims of irritability and mental stress. This affects their nature and behavior with the public.
Earlier the High Court had rejected the petition
In 2019, Jagjit Singh had raised this matter in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, but the High Court rejected the petition. The court had said that it is the job of the officers to decide the duty shift and weekly off of the policemen. After this, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court in 2020, which will now be heard.
The issue has been raised earlier also
This matter has also been raised in Parliament in 2018, where in response to question number 1402, the Government of India had sought a report from the DGP of Chandigarh Police. In 2014, instructions were sent to the police chiefs of all the states to implement 8-hour duty, but the Chandigarh Police has not yet implemented it. Former IG Kiran Bedi had implemented 8-hour shift and weekly off in Puducherry.
