Taking notice of widespread misuse of powers and complaints in this regard, the Gujarat high court has directed the state govt to ensure the effective functioning of police complaint authorities.
These authorities are constituted to address complaints related to police excesses.
The case involved Ramesh Shah, an animal vigilante from Valsad. He was allegedly thrashed by Valsad inspector V D Mori on Oct 25, 2021, when he intercepted three trucks carrying animals in violation of rules laid down. He made a complaint with the Gujarat State Police Complaint Authority seeking action against the inspector under Section 32 of the Bombay Police Act.
The complaint was transferred to the Valsad District Police Complaint Authority. A DySP recorded Shah’s statement and, on Nov 21, 2021, informed him that the allegations revealed a non-cognizable offence under Section 323 of the IPC, advising him to seek relief from the court.
Aggrieved by the lack of action, Shah approached the HC through advocates Nisarg S Shah and Vasvi Kapadia. They submitted that since the complaint was against a police inspector, the complaint should have been handled by the State Police Complaint Authority, and not transferred to the district authority.
After hearing the case, Justice H D Suthar noted in his order, “Misuse of police powers is widespread and day in and day out, a number of complaints are being received against the behaviour of police personnel.” The court cited various orders passed by the Supreme Court in which the apex court raised concern about the issue of police atrocities. “Even after the passage of a long time, the said directions have fallen on deaf ears and the situation does not seem to be showing any noticeable change,” the order reads.
The HC directed the state govt “to ensure the effective and proper functioning of the (i) Gujarat State Police Complaints Authority and (ii) District Police Complaint Authority in its true and perspective manner”.
The HC quashed the DySP’s communication to Shah stating that he should have sought relief from a court. It also directed the state govt to look into the grievance raised by Shah and take appropriate action in accordance with the law and inform him about the outcome of his complaint within a month. The HC kept it open for the petitioner to file independent criminal proceedings regarding alleged police action.
The HC also directed that its order be sent to the home secretary to ensure compliance.
