The State Police Chief is bound to obey the order of the Kerala State Human Rights Commission directing police personnel to address complainants as ‘Sir’, ‘Mr’, ‘Ms’, or ‘Madam’, commission member P. Mohanadas has said.

“If he has any difficulty in implementing the order, he should have filed a writ petition in the Kerala High Court explaining its reasons,” Mr. Mohanadas said on Wednesday.

Anoop Gangadharan, who runs a non-governmental organisation named ‘Arm of Joy’ in Kozhikode, had in 2017 filed a complaint with the commission citing his personal experience from the police force.

The commission issued an order on November 20 that year directing police personnel to address complainants as ‘Sir’, ‘Mr’, ‘Ms’, or ‘Madam’.

Mr. Anoop again approached the commission on Wednesday, pointing out that the police were yet to comply with the order even after three years. He urged the commission to seek an action taken report from the State Police Chief and also sought to know if any direction had been given to police personnel on the panel order.