Singham: The cinematic image of a “hero cop” delivering quick justice without bothering about the due process of law, as shown in blockbuster films like Singham sends out a very harmful message, Justice Gautam Patel of the Bombay High Court said here on Friday.
Speaking at a function organized by the Indian Police Foundation to mark its annual day and Police Reforms Day, he also questioned people’s “impatience” with the process of law.
Talking about police reforms, the judge said that the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Prakash Singh case was an “opportunity missed”, and also noted that the law enforcement machinery can not be reformed unless we reform ourselves
The image of police as “bullies, corrupt and unaccountable” is a populist one and the same can be said about anyone in the public life including judges, politicians, and journalists, he said.
When the public thinks that the courts are not doing their job, it celebrates when the police step in, the judge said.
This is why when a rape accused is killed in an encounter while allegedly trying to flee, people think it is not just alright but it is celebrated. Justice has been served, they feel, but has it?” he said.
“In movies, police rail against judges who are shown as docile, timid, thickly-spectacled, and often very badly dressed. They accuse courts of letting the guilty go. The hero cop delivers justice single-handedly,” he said.
Singham (2011), an action film directed by Rohit Shetty, is a remake of the 2010 Tamil film of the same title and stars Ajay Devgn in the lead role as a police officer.
