Bombay High Court asks government to fill vacancies in Police Complaint Authority

The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to undertake all efforts forthwith "to fill up each and every vacancy in the State Police Complaints Authority (SPCA) and in the Divisional Police Complaints Authorities (DPCA). The court asked the state to appoint officials to the board so authorities discharge their functions effectively.

A bench headed by Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and comprising Justice Arif S Doctor passed the order on a petition filed by activist Medha Patkar.

The PIL referred to a Supreme Court order wherein it asked all states to constitute SPCA and DPCA.

Patkar, in her plea filed through advocates Yashodeep Deshmukh and Vinod Sangvikar, stated that an RTI application, filed in December 2021, revealed that the SPCA had not been fully functioning due to a lack of funds and manpower.

Deshmukh and Sangvikar pointed out to the court that there were a lot of complaints/grievances by the public against the functioning of police authorities, and there was no established authority to redress them.

The bench noted it was not disputed by the state that there exist vacancies in the SPCA and DPCA, because of which, by no stretch of imagination, can it be said that such Authorities will be in a position to discharge their functions, as mandated by the Supreme Court.

The bench also underlined these vacancies in the Authorities reflect a lack of broad publicity about the functions of these Authorities. The court thereafter directed that necessary infrastructural facilities shall be provided by the state government at the earliest.

The court directed that the state sort out analogies in the salaries of the Chairperson and members of SPCA within three months. The state has been asked to file an affidavit enumerating all steps it has taken on September 29 and the bench listed the matter for a hearing on November 1.