Bizarre demarcation of jurisdictions of various police stations in the capital is adversely affecting policing and jeopardising the security interests of the common man.



The brutal gangrape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student on December 16 last year was a shocking example of how cops in Delhi stick to the territorial boundaries of their police stations.



Ramadhar, a carpenter who was robbed and dumped by the gangrape accused, was directed to go to Vasant Vihar police station when he approached some policemen near the Hauz Khas metro station. Many believe that had his plea been heard promptly, the brutal crime that followed the robbery could have been averted.

After the horrifying rape, Delhi Police issued fresh orders to register cases at all police stations irrespective of their jurisdiction. But such orders are not new and were in place earlier as well. Cops, especially investigating officers, always avoid registering a case as one additional case only adds to their visits to courts, time spent on paperwork besides pushing the crime graph of their police station northwards.

The divider near LSR College. The divider near LSR College.



The area of crime naturally turns into a conflict zone for policemen who use the strange and confusing markers of their territory to harass people.



"In our times there were orders that the case has to be registered at any place and then it should be handed over to the concerned police station. Police take refuge in jurisdiction problems when they don't want to register a case. And this fluid demarcation only helps them," said Ajai Raj Sharma, former Delhi Police commissioner.

Weird lines of control



An investigation by Mail Today revealed that lines of control have been drawn in a strange manner. At many places a road falls in the jurisdiction of one police station, while the footpath comes under another's. Examples of one side of the road coming under one police station, while the other being part of another's territory abound. This weird demarcation has on several occasions affected the functioning of police and the registration of cases, thereby delaying prompt action.



One example of bizarre demarcation of territory is at the traffic signal near Lady Shri Ram College in southeast Delhi. Here, the road falls under the jurisdiction of Amar Colony police station, while the footpath on Zamrudpur side of the same road falls under Greater Kailash police station. In December last year, a man lay in a pool of blood on the same road but near the footpath.

Hauz Khas Metro Station. Hauz Khas Metro Station.

Although a PCR van immediately shifted the victim to hospital, the police made several calls to the person who had informed the PCR to know whether the body was lying on the road or footpath. Imagine the jurisdictional complication if part of the body had been on the footpath.Moolchand flyover is another example where one side of the road falls under Lajpat Nagar police station and the other under Defence Colony police station. The two police stations are in two different police districts of Southeast and South Delhi. The underpass on Ring Road at Moolchand similarly is also under two different police stations."Cases can be registered in any police station. Police would immediately register a zero FIR and then investigations would be transferred to the police station concerned," Delhi Police had announced during its annual press conference on January 18.

"Police only use these jurisdictional issues as an excuse. They even shirk responsibility when jurisdiction is pretty much clear. Things will only change when duty officer and the local SHO act swiftly without any pressures," says noted criminal lawyer and senior advocate Ramesh Gupta adding that even redrawing of boundaries cannot help if policemen are not willing to act.

Moolchand flyover. Moolchand flyover.

"The order to register FIR anywhere in the capital was in place even before. There is nothing new in it," he said. "We have issued strict orders that jurisdiction should never be an issue in registering a case and cases concerning women would be dealt with utmost priority," said Rajan Bhagat, PRO, Delhi Police.



The demarcation of territories by the Delhi Police is a continuous process and former police officials claim that it is done on the basis of crime rate, roads, population and sometimes to simplify the delineation.



"During my tenure new police station of Kirti Nagar was created to ease out pressure on Moti Nagar police station as it got lot of cases due to the presence of industrial area and also one of Asia's biggest furniture markets," said Ved Prakash Gupta, who retired as ACP after serving in the Delhi Police for 42 years.



There are no uniform rules for demarcation of jurisdiction and it is decided as per the requirement of a particular area. He further said that there is always scope for improvement and if the police feel the boundaries have to be redrawn, a proposal can always be sent to the authorities concerned.



Two new districts



Delhi has 180 police stations in total out of which, 161 are territorial police stations.



In 2008, then Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal had decided to redraw the boundaries of police stations saying they have not been charted properly. He had inaugurated many new police stations during his tenure. Two new districts of South-East and Outer were also created during the last four years.