Police stations across the state will observe a Grievance Redressal Day (GRD) once a week as per a circular issued by the government on June 22,Dr B K Upadhyay,Special Inspector General of Police (Establishment) told the Bombay High Court on Tuesday. The court was hearing a bunch of pleas seeking transfer of cases to the state Criminal Investiation Department (CID). The court said the step taken by the government may be a saving grace for the police department as the number of cases seeking transfer of investigations from local police stations to the CID are on the rise. In his affidavit,Upadhyay informed the court that the GRD would be observed every Saturday and investigating officers at police stations would attend to the grievances the citizens. The officers would also help people to approach higher authorities such as the superintendent of police at district level or the Commissioners office. Justice A M Khanwilkar and Justice A R Joshi had clubbed 31 cases in which the complainants or accused sought the transfer of investigation to the CID,alleging that the probe conducted by the local police had been shoddy. The court had asked the Director General of Police (DGP) to set up a committee to hear the parties before transferring the probes to CID. On Tuesday,the court asked Advocate General D J Khambata to consider the 31 cases as a test and file a report suggesting corrective measures to address these complaints and whether or not the cases should be transferred. Defence lawyer Swapna Kode said the report has to be submitted by July 18. The court observed that organising GRDs would instill faith among citizens and save litigation costs incurred by complainants. Statistics provided by Upadhayay showed that between 2010 and 2012,75 cases were transferred to the CID by authorities like the HC,the state and the DGPs office.
