PANAJI: The state government on Monday shut down the state police complaints authority till it is reconstituted. It’s former chairman retired over two years ago, and since then, members used to conduct hearings, but were unable to pass orders without a chairman.
There are 83 cases pending before the authority. In a notice, SPCA secretary Laura Britto e Madre de Deus said that for hearings fixed for Tuesday and later, fresh notices will be issued to parties after reconstitution of the authority.
Sources said that staffers who were hired there on contract basis have been relieved from work. Several persons who worked for years made a representation to chief minister Pramod Sawant to continue their services.
The tenure of the SPCA’s last chairman, justice RMS Khandeparkar, ended on April 15, 2018. The three-member body comprises a chairman and two other members.
In 2014, the state government had issued a memorandum restricting the body from taking suo motu cognisance of misconduct by police personnel. The move had drawn wide criticism from activists and the public, as there has been an increase in the number of cases filed against cops over the past five years.
The SPCA had recommended disciplinary proceedings against some of them. It even directed some to perform social service, requiring them to educate members of 10 village panchayats about the existence, functioning, purpose and utility as well as the procedure followed by the SPCA.
Most complaints before the authority pertain to police refusing to register FIRs. Other complaints refer to personnel assaulting the complainant when an FIR was asked to be registered. In one such case, the complainant had stated he had been harassed by the police while registering an FIR. Other complaints include abuse of power and arrest without valid reasons.