India's most famous police station needs urgent repairs | Latest News India

New Delhi: Even before India's independence, the Parliament Street police station was probably the most famous police station in the country. It is located on Sansad Marg, just down the street from the old Parliament complex. Protesting politicians and political demonstrators are often arrested in this police station, making it India's political police station.

In 2022, to honor freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh and Mahatma Gandhi, the facade of the century-old building was decorated with LED lights and posters of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh – possibly the most famous of the hundreds of prominent prisoners ever held at the police station.

The police station building is listed as a Grade 2 building, meaning it is a structure of “local/regional importance” and “has historical significance”.

But the building's interiors are in a shocking state of disrepair, with wide cracks visible in the white walls and water damage which, coupled with a lack of ventilation, has led to the growth of mould. The deterioration is not just cosmetic; the building's structural integrity and safety are a major concern, according to Delhi Police officials.

Despite its historic past, the repair and restoration work on the police station is fraught with bureaucratic hurdles: the building falls under the jurisdiction of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), and only the city administration's heritage conservation committee can entrust its maintenance.

“Although the police station is under our jurisdiction, we only receive information when a major renovation or structural change is carried out. We let other authorities carry out smaller works ourselves,” said an NDMC spokesman.

Police officials posted at the station said they had submitted written requests to the senior citizens to remedy the poor condition of the building. “Then, in February, a letter was sent to the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) requesting them to conduct an inquiry and prepare a report,” said the official, who wished to remain anonymous.

Vijaya Amujure, head of the architectural heritage department at INTACH, said her team had prepared a preliminary report in February and approached senior police officials to take the “necessary” steps to preserve the building, but there had been no progress since then.

According to police, the report received mentions numerous observations regarding the problem of water entering the building, mold, “covered” corridors and “limited” ventilation in many areas.

Suman Nalwa, spokesperson for the Delhi Police, said: “Such a proposal has not been finalised yet. At the moment, all options are open.”

Beginnings in the British Raj

The Parliament Street Police Station was built in 1913 and originally served as a residential area for security personnel protecting Raisina Hill, which was then the Viceroy's Residence and the Imperial Secretariat.

It was not until 1920 that the building was converted into a fully functional police station with offices and a prison, police said.

The landmark building is one of the oldest police stations in the city and today consists of three sections. The first section at the front houses the offices of the Deputy Commissioner of Police and the Assistant Commissioner of Police of New Delhi Police District. Behind this is a two-storey police station with offices and a courtyard. The third section is at the rear of the building and includes a campus area for the 5th Battalion of the Delhi Armed Police with rooms for the staff.

The first FIR lodged at the police station – written in Shikasta Urdu – was in December 1913. It was a complaint by a man named Zuman Bela who claimed that a coat, trousers and socks had been stolen. Over time, however, the police station's proximity to centres of power has meant that many of those arrested here are political prisoners.

Historian Sohail Hashmi said the Parliament Street police station became popular because most of the political protests in Delhi took place on Rafi Marg and the police always took their arrestees to this police station.

Perhaps the two most famous inmates of the police station were Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt, who were held here after the assembly bombing on April 8, 1929.

“Until the late 1980s, there was a court next to the police station. All those arrested were taken directly from the police station to the court,” he said.

Hashmi said he too was detained at the police station during the Emergency in 1975 and picked up from Jawaharlal Nehru University. “I remember Bharath Raj Muthukumar (who later became an IFS officer and was posted as ambassador to Belarus, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan) was also detained during the Emergency,” he said.

When the then Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, came to India for the first time in 1978, hundreds of Iranian students in India staged a protest against him near Parliament and were all arrested at the Parliament Street police station.

This is also the police station where the murder of gangster-turned-MP Phoolan Devi was investigated in July 2001. Her gold bangles and a wooden bed are still evidence in the station's maalkhana (evidence store).

The urgent need for nature conservation

Although the police station is closely intertwined with India's history before and after independence, the city's landmark is now in urgent need of restoration, more than a century after it was built.

ACP Rajendra Singh Kalkal, former in-charge of Delhi Police Museum, said water leakage was a major problem in the building. “There is also some minor damage to the walls and the building needs to be made waterproof,” he told HT.

The interior walls of the station also show damage.

“It is because of the rains this year. There is always a water leak in some offices. The problem at our police station is that we have files which are crucial for ongoing cases and also electronic equipment which is also very important. Sometimes the rainwater also damages our furniture,” said the police officer quoted above.

During a spot check on June 20, HT found that many interior walls had cracks on the ceiling and edges. A quick look inside an officer's office revealed white walls with obvious water stains and mold. Elsewhere, paint had peeled off and several walls had entire chunks missing. Several rooms inside the police station also showed signs of water leaks.

Ventilation problems also occurred in places where furniture or files were stacked near windows or entrances/exits.

Amujure of INTACH said her team had highlighted several problems to the New Delhi Police District in its first report.

“There have been problems with ventilation as the station has been expanded and the police have installed more things over time. The corridor seems to be blocked. There are also problems with waterproofing. All these problems have been reported as the building has not been repaired for several years. We will wait until the other parties involved decide something,” she said.