Daily Editorial Analysis 25 September 2026

Policing The Line Between Publicity And Justice

Context

• Within minutes of an arrest anywhere in India, a face — handcuffed, flanked by policemen, sometimes garlanded with placards cataloguing the crime — starts circulating on social media, often before the accused is even produced before a magistrate.
• A Supreme Court PIL seeking a nationwide media protocol for police briefings has forced a question Indian policing has quietly avoided: under what law is this done, should it be done, and where should it stop?
• In this context, this article highlights the legal uncertainty surrounding police publicity of accused persons, examining investigative necessity, constitutional safeguards, presumption of innocence and the need for a uniform national protocol.

Why the Practice Exists

• The justification for publicity is genuine. Photographs of wanted persons and reward notices have:
  • Solved crimes.
  • Helped recover missing children.
  • Brought fugitives to book years after trails went cold.
• The public, once alerted, has achieved what a thinly stretched police force alone could not. But as the experts note, the justification is strong; the legal architecture is weak.

The Legal Patchwork

• No single statute permits or prohibits police from publishing photographs of accused persons.
• Instead, a patchwork of colonial-era regulations and general procedural powers is stretched to cover the practice.

• Absconder Proclamations

  • Section 84 of the BNSS, 2023 (earlier Section 82 of the CrPC) allows courts to proclaim absconders and publish proclamations in newspapers.
  • It says nothing about photographs — attaching one is merely settled practice.
  • Crucially, this process triggers only after a warrant fails; it offers no legal basis for publicity at the earlier investigation stage.

• Investigation-Stage Publicity

  • This rests on the general powers of an Investigating Officer (IO) — every person must assist police in preventing and investigating offences, and an IO may examine anyone with relevant information.
  • Publishing photographs to solicit identification or trace absconders is essentially a digital-age extension of the colonial-era “Hue and Cry Notice” found in State Police Manuals, whose broad language (“description of the subject”) is stretched to plausibly cover photographs.

• Reward Announcements

  • These announcements stand on firmer but narrower ground — governed by State Police Regulations under the Police Act, 1861, with sanctioning authority ranging from the Station House Officer (SHO) to the State government.
  • This requires no prior warrant; it is purely administrative discretion.

• A Common Misconception

  • The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 governs the taking, storage and use of identification measurements, including photographs.
  • It is often wrongly cited as authorising their publication — but it says nothing about circulation at all.

The Constitutional Concern

• Jurisprudence around Article 21 has sharpened, not softened, on this issue. The presumption of innocence remains central to criminal justice.
• Courts increasingly recognise that broadcasting an arrested person’s face as a fait accompli of guilt, before any charge is even framed, can cause real, irreversible harm.
• The Rajasthan High Court termed such practices “institutional humiliation.”
• Digital circulation is permanent, searchable, and indifferent to a later acquittal — the damage cannot be undone even if the person is cleared.

Policy Developments So Far

• July 2024: The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) prepared a draft manual on media briefings by police and shared it with the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• January 2026: The Supreme Court noted that an amicus had prepared a Police Manual for Media Briefing and directed States to evolve appropriate policies based on it within three months.
• Existing Absolute Red Lines
  • A juvenile in conflict with law cannot be identified except in the child’s best interest, and only with the Juvenile Justice Board’s permission.
  • A sexual assault survivor’s identity is legally protected.
• The real, unsettled debate concerns the ordinary adult — accused, arrested, but not yet tried.

The Distinction That Matters

• Publication of an accused’s photograph sits on a scale:
  • One end: Legitimate investigative necessity — crime prevention, public order, law-and-order purposes.
  • Other end: Showcasing police achievements — where photographs are released merely to serve police optics at the accused’s expense, prejudicing public opinion before trial even begins.

How Other Countries Handle It

• United States: “Wanted” notices are treated as public-record exceptions to privacy law, but agencies are trained to frame them carefully — using terms like “alleged” and “wanted for questioning” — to preserve the presumption of innocence even while seeking public help.
• United Kingdom: A more conservative approach — police withhold arrested persons’ identities altogether.

What Is Needed

• An outright ban on soliciting public assistance would be legally unwarranted and self-defeating.
• Instead, India needs a codified, uniform national protocol that:
  • Distinguishes proportionate, need-based disclosure from prejudicial publicity.
  • Mandates blackout categories — juveniles, sexual-offence complainants.
  • Requires time-bound review and takedown once the investigative purpose is served, or the accused is discharged or acquitted.
  • Applies uniformly across States, ending the current patchwork.

Conclusion

• Public help has genuinely solved crimes — but convenience is not the same as legality.
• Before any photograph goes out, one question should decide it: is the disclosure necessary to the investigation, or merely convenient to the narrative?
• Until that question is codified into law, India’s policing will keep confusing publicity with justice.

Policing The Line Between Publicity And Justice FAQs

Q1. Why do police publish photographs of accused persons?

Ans: Police publicity can help identify suspects, trace absconders, recover missing children, solve crimes and obtain public assistance during investigations.

Q2. Is there a specific law authorising police to publish accused persons’ photographs?

Ans: No single statute expressly permits or prohibits publication; authorities rely on procedural powers, police manuals and regulations forming a legal patchwork.

Q3. What constitutional concern arises from police publicity?

Ans: Publicly portraying an accused as guilty can undermine the presumption of innocence and cause irreversible reputational harm through permanent digital circulation.

Q4. What safeguards already exist for certain individuals?

Ans: Juveniles cannot ordinarily be identified, while sexual assault survivors have legally protected identities under existing safeguards and judicial requirements.

Q5. What protocol does the article propose for police publicity?

Ans: The article proposes uniform rules distinguishing necessary disclosure from prejudicial publicity, with review, takedown requirements and protected categories.

Source: TH

Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros – From Recovery to Landscape-Level Conservation

Context

• The Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is an iconic species of India’s Brahmaputra and Terai floodplains and grasslands.
• Historically, its range extended across the northern Indian subcontinent along the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra river systems. Today, wild populations in India are concentrated mainly in Assam, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
• India’s conservation approach is increasingly shifting from merely protecting existing rhino populations to expanding the species across suitable parts of its historical range.

From Protection to Population Recovery

• Rhino conservation in India is fundamentally a story of recovery. The population has increased by nearly 170% — from around 1,500 animals to more than 4,000 by September 2024.
• To consolidate this recovery, the National Conservation Strategy for the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros (2019) provides a long-term framework based on –
  • Strengthening existing populations.
  • Restoring suitable former habitats.
  • Maintaining genetic security and habitat connectivity.
  • Scientifically planned translocations.
  • Building climate resilience into conservation planning.

• Phase I – 2026–2031

  • The proposed five-year Phase I programme, with ₹77.39 crore in support through the National CAMPA Authority, covers Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
  • Its priorities include scientific monitoring and protection, habitat restoration and management, translocation planning, community coexistence, and capacity building.
  • Expansion of rhino populations into suitable areas of Bihar and Arunachal Pradesh is also a priority.

Rhino Conservation is Equal to Ecosystem Conservation

• The survival of the rhino is inseparable from the health of alluvial and Terai grasslands and wetlands.
• These ecosystems also support species such as swamp deer, wild buffalo, elephants, tigers and grassland birds.
• Grasslands are dynamic ecosystems and require active, science-based management to prevent habitat degradation, inappropriate ecological succession, and invasive species proliferation.
• The Rhino Conservation Action Plan therefore focuses on mapping and assessing grasslands and wetlands, identifying invasive species, prioritising restoration sites and developing Protected Area-specific management protocols.

Comprehensive Assessment of Indian Grasslands

• A complementary five-year initiative (2026–2031), with ₹20.86 crore, will assess Indian grasslands through the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) and Forest Survey of India (FSI).
• It will examine grassland extent and ecological condition, biodiversity and degradation, ecosystem services, and carbon potential.
• It is expected to contribute to a National Grassland Atlas, restoration priorities and long-term management guidelines.
• This reflects a shift from species-centric conservation towards landscape-level and ecosystem-based conservation, where protecting a flagship species simultaneously safeguards wider ecological functions.

Climate Resilience and Technology

• Flooding is a natural component of ecosystems such as Kaziranga, but increasing frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events can create additional conservation pressures.
• Future conservation therefore requires access to higher ground, ecological connectivity, protection of dispersal routes, landscape-scale habitat management, and climate-resilient conservation planning.
• Technology can further strengthen conservation through modern surveillance, spatial monitoring, veterinary diagnostics, genetic tools and decision-support systems.
• However, technology cannot replace frontline personnel — forest guards, watchers, mahouts, veterinarians and field officers — who remain the foundation of wildlife protection.

Conservation at Different Levels

• Communities as conservation partners:

  • Long-term rhino conservation depends on communities living around rhino habitats.
  • Conservation must therefore be treated as a shared enterprise, rather than merely a government activity.
  • Community participation can help address human-wildlife conflict, strengthen local stewardship and make conservation outcomes more sustainable.

• Regional and international cooperation:

  • Rhino conservation also requires cooperation beyond administrative and national boundaries.
  • At the Second Asian Rhino Range States Conservation Meeting in New Delhi (2019), India, Bhutan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal adopted the New Delhi Declaration to strengthen cooperation for Asian rhinoceros conservation.
  • Such cooperation is important for addressing shared challenges such as habitat fragmentation, illegal wildlife trade, genetic conservation and transboundary ecological connectivity.

Way Forward

• India’s rhino recovery demonstrates that species decline is not necessarily irreversible when supported by sustained political commitment, scientific management and field-level protection.
• The conservation of the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros ultimately extends beyond a single species.
• Protecting rhino habitats means protecting rivers, wetlands, grasslands, forests, biodiversity and local communities that form interconnected ecological landscapes.

Conclusion:

• India’s recovery of the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros is a significant conservation achievement.
• The challenge now is to consolidate these gains while expanding populations into suitable historical habitats.
• The rhino’s recovery is a national achievement; ensuring its long-term survival is a national responsibility.

Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros FAQs

Q1. What is the significance of the Greater One-Horned Rhino for India’s ecosystem?

Ans. It is a flagship species of the Brahmaputra and Terai landscapes, whose conservation ensures conservation of the entire ecosystem.

Q2. What are the objectives of the National Conservation Strategy for the Greater One-Horned Rhino?

Ans. It aims to strengthen existing populations, ensure habitat connectivity, scientific translocation, and climate resilience.

Q3. Why is grassland restoration crucial for rhino conservation?

Ans. Scientific management prevents degradation, invasive species and inappropriate ecological succession.

Q4. How is climate change influencing rhino conservation in India?

Ans. It necessitates higher-ground access, ecological connectivity, protection of dispersal routes, etc.

Q5. Why is community participation important for the long-term conservation of the Rhino?

Ans. Communities around rhino habitats are essential conservation partners, making wildlife protection a shared enterprise.

Source: IE

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