Police complaint authority formation in Maha delayed:RTI reply

The much-awaited formation of State Police Complaint Authority (SPCA) of Maharashtra has been hampered due to delay in appointment of members at the district-level, an RTI reply has said.
SPCA is being set up to look into complaints of misconduct, dereliction of duty, misuse of power, corruption, negligence by police officials or any other matter that may be referred to it.
In a reply to RTI activist Jeetendra Ghadge, the state Home department has said that though SPCA panel members at the state-level have been finalised, the selection at district level was going on.
"Panel members for the SPCA have been finalised. However, selection of members for the district level PCA was still underway at the administrative level," it said.

The reply furnished by public information officer D S Ghatge said that the process of formation of the authority at the state and district level was underway.
The state government had issued a notification on May 25, this year to set up SPCA, following the high court's directives last year in which it had asked the state government to make SPCA functional.

Setting up of SPCA is a part of police reforms, as directed by the apex court to all the states.
The state-level panel will look into the complaints filed against Deputy Superintendent of Police/ACPs and above level, while the district level PCA would look into the complaints filed against junior officials.

"In over five months, only state-level panel members have been named which shows the state government's lackadaisical approach," RTI activist Jeetendra Ghadge said.
"There is an urgent need for this authority to function, not just for common man but for junior-level police officers also who are suffering harassment by their seniors," he said.