Upholding the Law or Exceeding the Authority

• 04 Apr 2023

Alok was a young and ambitious IPS officer posted in a town in the state of Uttar Pradesh. His job was to maintain law and order in the town and ensure that the crime rate remained low.

One day, while on duty, Alok received a call from his senior officer, who informed him that a group of local goons had kidnapped a businessman's daughter and were demanding a huge ransom. He ordered Alok to take immediate action to rescue the girl and catch the culprits.

Alok quickly assembled a team of police officers and managed to locate the hideout of the kidnappers and successfully rescued the girl. However, in the process, one of the kidnappers was killed by the police. Alok justified the killing by arguing that it was necessary to protect the girl's life and catch the culprits.

However, the incident made Alok think about his actions if he made the right decision by taking the life of a criminal without a fair trial. This guilt was further compounded when he learned that the family of the deceased kidnapper was filing a case against the police department for extrajudicial killing which could tarnish the reputation of the police department and ruin his career.

Do you think the approach that Alok followed was justified? If not, then what could have been the right approach?