The Kerala High Court on Friday passed an order directing the state police chief to issue a circular advising all police officers to use respectable language while interacting with the public.
The order was issued by Justice Devan Ramachandran in response to a petition filed by the father of a 15-year-old girl who complained of rude behaviour by the police during the daughter’s vehicle inspection. The court observed that police officers must avoid using terms such as “eda”, “edi” – colloquially used to address men and women respectively – in conversations with the public since they are considered impolite in Malayalam. “Police must learn to use polite language with the public. The police have no right to call Eda or Edi. There should be decent behavior. The DGP should issue a circular with proper guidelines,” said the Court. The petitioner had alleged that officers of the Cherpu police station in Thrissur district used disrespectful and coarse language while speaking to his daughter during a vehicle inspection as part of the Covid-19 protocol management.
