[Ed. note: This code of conduct was written by the Indian government for its police forces and was taken from the publication A Training Manual for Police on Human Rights edited by N. R. Madhava Menon and published by the Human Rights Centre of the National Law School of India University, 1997, Bangalore, India.]

(1) The police must bear faithful allegiance to the Constitution of India and respect and uphold the rights of the citizens as guaranteed by it.

(2) The police should not question the propriety or necessity of any law duly enacted. They should enforce the law firmly and impartially without fear or favour, malice or vindictiveness.

(3) The police should recognize and respect the limitations of their powers and functions. They should not usurp or even seem to usurp the functions of the judiciary and sit in judgement on cases to avenge individuals and punish the guilty.

(4) In securing the observance of law or in maintaining order, the police should, as far as practicable, use the methods of persuasion, advice and warning. When the application of force becomes inevitable, only the irreducible minimum amount of force required under the circumstances should be used.

(5) The prime duty of the police is to prevent crime and disorder, and the police must recognize that the test of their efficiency is the absence of both and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them.

(6) The police must recognize that they are members of the public with the only difference being that in the interests of society and on its behalf they are employed to give full attention to duties which are normally incumbent on every citizen to perform.

(7) The police should realize that the efficient performance of their duties will be dependent on the extent of cooperation that they receive from the public. This, in turn, will depend on their ability to secure public approval of their conduct and actions and to earn and retain public respect and confidence.

(8) The police should always keep the welfare of the people in mind and be sympathetic and considerate towards them. They should always be ready to offer individual service and friendship and render necessary assistance to all without regard to their wealth or social standing.

(9) The police should always place duty before self, should remain calm in the face of danger, scorn or ridicule and should be ready to sacrifice their lives in protecting those of others.

(10) The police should always be courteous and well-mannered. They should be dependable and impartial. They should possess dignity and courage and should cultivate character and the trust of the people.

(11) Integrity of the highest order is the fundamental basis of the prestige of the police. Recognizing this, the police must keep their private lives scrupulously clean, develop self-restraint and be truthful and honest in thought and deed, in both their personal and official life, so that the public may regard them as exemplary citizens.

(12) The police should recognize that their full utility to the State is best ensured only by maintaining a high standard of discipline, by faithfully performing their duties in accordance with the law and by implicitly obeying the lawful directions of the commanding ranks and maintaining absolute loyalty to the force and by keeping themselves in a state of constant training and preparedness.

(13) As members of a secular, democratic State, the police should strive continually to rise above personal prejudices and should promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood among all of the people of India, transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities, and should renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women and the disadvantaged segments of society.