Kerala Police chief Anil Kant on Friday issued a circular asking all police officials in the state to behave politely with the public and not use eda' or edi' while talking to them. Eda or edi' is a colloquial manner of addressing one another and is considered disrespectful when addressing an elderly person or unknown person.
Anil Kant, in the circular, stated that police officers should behave in a civilised and humble manner while dealing with the public.
"No unparliamentary words should be used during any interaction with the public. Directions have been issued not to use eda' or edi' while talking to people," the state police department said in a release.The circular also said that the District Special Branch will closely observe the behaviour of police with the public and impolite behaviour will immediately warrant action by the unit head concerned.
The move comes following a recent order of the Kerala High Court asking the state police not to use disrespectful terms while interacting with the citizens.
The court's direction came while hearing a plea filed by the father of a 15-year-old girl who complained that the police had used impolite language while interacting with his daughter during a vehicle check which is part of the COVID-19 protocol. The court said that the officers must not use such language in their official conversations with the public. The order was issued by a single-judge bench of the Kerala High Court headed by Justice Devan Ramachandran.
"Police must learn to use polite language with the public. The police have no right to call Eda or Edi. There should be decent behaviour. The DGP should issue a circular with proper guidelines," the court said, according to ANI.
The petitioner, in his plea, accused police officers of the Cherpu station in Thrissur district of using rude and impolite language while speaking to his daughter.