Ker Govt "in no hurry" to implement police commissionerates:CM

: The Left government in Kerala on Tuesday said it was yet to take a final decision on setting up metropolitan police commissionerates in the state and it would be implemented only after a consensus emerges on the issue.

Under the metropolitan system, police commissioners will have magisterial powers like District Collectors.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the state Assembly that the proposal to set up the commissionarates in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi was under consideration, but the CPI(M)-led LDF government was in "no hurry" to implement it.

The Chief Minister's statement comes days after CPI, the second largest coalition partner in the Left front, had reportedly come out against the Vijayan government's decision to give magisterial powers to police.

When the Opposition UDF created a ruckus in the House over the issue, Vijayan said similar commissionerates had already been functioning in 44 cities across the country and its objective was to strengthen the law and order system in urban areas.

Turning the tables on Congress-led UDF members, Vijayan said his government had not taken any new decision in this regard and the proposal was the "policy decision" of the previous Oommen Chandy government.

"We are yet to take a final decision on the police commissionerate system.

It will be done only after taking into account the peculiar circumstances in Kerala and holding discussions and evolving a consensus," the Chief Minister said while replying to a notice for an adjournment motion.

Even if the commissionerate system is implemented, the government has no plan to grant police the powers to detain people under the Kerala Anti-Social (Activities) Prevention Act (KAPA), he said.

Seeking notice for the motion, Congress legislator V T Balram said the commissionerate system would give "undue powers" to the police, which would result in the curtailing of basic human rights of common people.

"What will happen if the police get power to carry out inquest in the case of a custodial death...?