Andhra Pradesh to soon have its own Police Act

Vijayawada:  Andhra Pradesh will soon have a Police Act of its own, with a five-member expert committee constituted on Wednesday to draft the new law.

The need for a new Act was felt following the bifurcation of the state two years ago.

In fact, a draft Police Bill was prepared in 2013 when the state was still undivided, but was not enacted as the bifurcation process was set in motion by the Centre, official sources said.

Subsequently, the new government decided to draft a new Police Act for Andhra Pradesh and held consultations in the last few months as a preparatory exercise.

State Chief Secretary Satya Prakash Tucker also held a meeting with concerned officials in March and decided to entrust the work to an expert committee to draft the Act.

Accordingly, a five-member expert committee headed by Additional Director General of Police N V Surendra Babu has been constituted on Wednesday to draft the new Police Act.

The expert committee, which also comprises Inspector General of Police (Personnel) N Madhusudhan Reddy, retired IGP Umapathi and two others, will first look into the revised draft Police Bill, 2013 and also study the police Acts of various other states, according to Principal Home Secretary A R Anuradha.

The committee would come up with suggestions in 15 days and later submit the draft Police Act within three months, she said.

The new law is expected to be enacted during the winter session of the AP Legislature towards the end of this year, official sources said.