The Delhi government is in the process of setting up a Police Complaint Authority to ensure that the people in the capital can hold the cops accountable for their wrong doings. The move comes on the direction of the Union home ministry after all attempts to bring law and order within the jurisdiction of the city government yielded no result.
As per the draft paper prepared by the city government, the Police Complaint Authority will be headed by a retired judge of the Delhi high court. The people aggrieved by any police action or having been at the receiving ends due to cops can knock at doors of the authority, which will have its own proceedings to examine the complaints.
“The authority will issue directions to the Delhi police after examining the complaints, which can not be challenged in any court of law. The police at best can appeal against the direction to the authority only. It will be mandatory for the Delhi police to implement the directions of the authority,” stated a senior home department official of the Delhi government.
The draft paper is being sent to the Union home ministry for approval following which it will be notified to ensure that the process to set up the authority is initiated. The move will help the people to get redressal for their grievances against the police. “The authority will take up a range of issues like human rights violation, breach of privacy, harassment among others,” added the official.
Though Delhi has an elected government and there is an Assembly also, the law and order subject is with the MHA. The Delhi Assembly on many occasions had passed resolutions to make the Delhi police directly accountable to the people of the capital. Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit had on occasions called for trifurcation of the city police. “The setting up of the authority will partly address to the demands of the people to make the police directly accountable to them to some extent. Also, this step will keep the cops on caution. The authority will have power to reign in erring cops,” stated the official.