The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday directed the State to consider sanctioning transport allowance (TA) to police personnel in the range of ₹1500 to ₹2,000 per month, to carry out their official duty. The court had initiated suo motu proceedings in the case to know if policemen were paid TA.
A Division Bench of Justices K. K. Sasidharan and P. D. Audikesavalu observed, “It is a common practice to criticise the police force for anything and everything. Many a time we accuse them for not taking action to prevent crimes. However, we have not made any attempt to verify whether they have the required facilities to undertake night patrols, intelligence gathering and crime detection.”
From their pocket
The court said that if TA was not paid, the policemen would have to spend from their own pocket and may even hesitate to undertake night patrols, particularly in rural areas. This might have a cascading effect on crime prevention and vigilance.
The police would have to visit the crime scene, serve summons, meet sources and keep themselves updated on developments. Therefore, it was necessary for the State to consider their plight of and implement the order within a period of two months, the court said.
During the course of the hearing, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Law and Order, submitted that a total of 7,265 two-wheelers and 6,187 four-wheelers were allotted to 31 districts and seven key cities across the State.
Each vehicle was allotted with fuel, based on the jurisdiction of the police station. Also, the police personnel were given bus and railway warrants, the counter affidavit added.