Establish helpline number to complain against police excesses, Gujarat High Court tells govt

While the bench on Friday pointed out that a Supreme Court judgment directs for the establishment of a grievance cell, the state submitted to the court that citizens can complain against police persons on the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) helpline number of 1064. The state added that it has set up a grievance cell in compliance with the apex court directions.

However, Chief Justice Agarwal insisted that a helpline be set up for easy accessibility to the grievance cell to make complaints when necessary instead of expecting citizens to visit the grievance cell office to file their complaints physically.

Addressing the government pleader, Manisha Lavkumar Shah, representing the state, CJ Agarwal orally remarked, “Creation of (grievance) cell is not enough, nobody knows where to go, whom to contact, nobody can stand outside your office. Do you expect an ordinary citizen to stand outside the complaint cell?… Your district magistrate (DM) and (police) commissioner, they are gods, they behave like kings. Don’t provoke us to say anything…these are the ground realities and everybody knows.”

“For an ordinary citizen to enter the police station or office of commissioner or DM, it is completely beyond dream. We both have been ordinary citizens at one point of time and we know the ground realities personally. We have our personal experiences as well with these authorities. Don’t create a camouflage… If there is a (grievance) cell, alright. But everybody must know that there is a (grievance) cell. Where to go, how to go, whom to contact, these 3 questions have to be answered and should be there in a flash (in the mind of citizens when they encounter police excesses),” the CJ added.

The court has kept the matter for the next hearing on December 12.