Action only on paper at Haryana Police Complaints Authority
Official sources say they receive almost 100 complaints against the police officers annually, but all are buried in the registers for over four years as the government has not appointed a chairman or any member of the authority all these years.
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Currently, only three employees — an inspector, additional district attorney and a constable — have been posted at the authority on additional charges. (Representational Image)
“If complaint against any police officer reaches us, we will make an entry in our register, but we can’t take any action beyond this,” says an officer posted at Haryana Police Complaints Authority in Sector 19, Chandigarh. Official sources say they receive almost 100 complaints against the police officers annually, but all are buried in the registers for over four years as the government has not appointed a chairman or any member of the authority all these years.
“Only (the) chairman is authorised to decide whether cognisance should be taken on a particular complaint,” adds the official requesting anonymity.
Currently, only three employees — an inspector, additional district attorney and a constable — have been posted at the authority on additional charges. The complaints authority, which was set up in October 2010, is empowered to probe serious allegations against the policemen, including death, rape, attempt to rape and serious injuries in police custody. A retired IAS officer, H S Rana, was appointed its first chairman, but the post is vacant after completion of his three-year tenure.
According to lawyer H C Arora, who has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding the matter, approximately 100 complaints were lying unattended in March 2014. Till now, no full-time member has been appointed to the authority. “The government doesn’t want to appoint anybody as the authority was meant to keep a check on the policemen,” alleges Arora who had approached the HC in December 2014, demanding appointment of a retired Judge as the chairman, citing a Supreme Court judgment.
Arora had urged that the the chairman of the authority should be picked from a panel of names sent by the Chief Justice. The Haryana government, in 2014, had made some amendments in the law prescribing the qualification for appointment of the chairperson as “having wide knowledge and experience of at least 10 years’ in public life, academics, law etc”.
Haryana Additional Chief Secretary (home) S S Prasad did not respond to the text messages and phone calls made by The Indian Express, while Haryana DGP B S Sandhu said that the government takes call on the appointments.
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