The complaints range from property disputes to grievances against the police. Apart from Sharma’s note, police also received a note from L-G’s secretary Vijay Kumar. (File)

Concerned over their “late, casual response”, special secretary to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, R N Sharma, has sent a note to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik asking police to start filing reports addressing complaints raised by Raj Niwas within a fortnight. Sharma has also written that the report must be sent by an officer not below the rank of a joint commissioner of police.

According to officials, there are two types of redressal systems for aggrieved citizens at Raj Niwas. Either they can register their complaint online, or they can personally visit the secretariat and meet officials who convey the complaint to Baijal. Depending on the grievance, the L-G either meets the complainant, or his secretaries forward the complaint to police chief Patnaik, asking for a report after conducting an enquiry.

The complaints range from property disputes to grievances against the police. Apart from Sharma’s note, police also received a note from L-G’s secretary Vijay Kumar. In it, he said that the secretariat receives various complaints and representations from public with respect to the Delhi Police, which are then sent to the police headquarters. Police are then asked to conduct an inquiry and send a report to the L-G for perusal.

However, Kumar said, it has been observed by the L-G that reports from the Delhi Police were submitted after a considerable time had passed in many cases. “It has been also observed that some of these reports were received almost after one year. Moreover, in some cases, these reports were prepared in a casual manner and sent by a junior-level officer,” Kumar wrote.

He further said that Baijal has taken a serious view of the matter and directed that in cases of references from Raj Niwas, the report should be submitted within a fortnight after proper examination by an officer not below the rank of JCP. A police source said, “After receiving a complaint, the matter used to be forwarded to the DCP concerned, and his additional DCP would submit a response. But following the L-G’s direction, each file will be forwarded to the JCP of the range concerned from the office of special CP (law and order). After conducting an inquiry and taking Patnaik’s approval, the response would be submitted to the L-G.”