Police complaints authority faces hurdle due to overlapping jurisdictions

ALMOST A year since the State Police Complaints Authority (SPCA) was set up based on Supreme Court guidelines, the body has acted upon 300 complaints it received from across the state. The independent body was set up to investigate complaints against the police. In certain cases, however, it has faced hurdles due to overlapping jurisdictions — several people facing grievances approach the SPCA after having already approached the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), thereby leaving little scope for the police complaints authority to intervene. The SPCA was set up in January this year.

A senior official said recently there was a case from Vidarbha where the police had not registered an FIR in a case and had allegedly threatened the complainant. The complainant then approached the Maharashtra SHRC, which after hearing asked for an FIR to be registered in the matter. The matter was, however, pending as the police did not immediately comply with the SHRC order. “The complainant then approached us. However, as an authority was already looking into the matter, we could not take any action or ask the police why action had not been taken. Had he (complainant) approached us directly, we could have pursued the matter to its logical end,” an official with the complaints authority said.

An officer said normally when someone had a grievance with the police station, they would go to the seniors. If not satisfied with the response, some approach the SHRC or the local courts. “Not a lot of people are aware about the option of approaching the State Police Complaint Authority. We are, however, putting in efforts to ensure that it is given wide publicity. We have set up phone numbers, 02222820045/46/67, and an e-mail address — mahaspca@gmail.com — where people can mail in their complaints,” the official said.

Another problem that the authority faces is that while it operates from the MTNL building in Nariman Point, branches in other parts of the state are yet to come up. “Majority of the complaints we get are from western Maharashtra. The complainants have to travel all the way to the city to register their complaints. We are in the process of setting up district units that will help people approach us without having to travel this far,” an official said.

The authority can look into complaints against police in cases of custodial torture, harassment or other types of abuse of power. An official said that so far, majority of the 300 complaints they had received were about the police not registering FIRs.

The authority is headed by a retired High Court judge and comprises retired Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers. The authority has been ordained powers of a civil court, which means it can summon witnesses, examine them on oath and receive evidence on affidavit among other things. If the authority finds merit in a complaint, it will then send a report to the superiors of the officer against whom the complaint was given or to the state government, in case of senior officers. It could lead to, among other things, an FIR being registered against the guilty party.