24 States, 7 UTs Have Constituted Police Complaints Authorities: Nityanand Rai

As many as 24 state and seven union territories (UTs) have constituted Police Complaints Authorities to inquire into the complaints of police misconduct, the Ministry of home affairs (MHA) informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai shared the information in reply to a question from the chief of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi.

The minister said that Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Puducherry have constituted the Police Complaints Authorities.

Bihar has constituted the District Accountability Authority in each district of the state, the minister further informed.

Moreover, he said that “Police” is a state subject under the List-1 or state list of the seventh schedule of the Indian constitution and that it is the primary responsibility of the state governments and UT administrations to ensure that the functioning of police force is more effective and transparent.

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The police forces of the states work within the existing legal and institutional framework in the matter, said Rai.

“The Supreme Court in its judgement in the matter of Writ Petition (Civil) 310 of 1996 titled Prakash Singh and Ors Vs Union of India and Ors directed to constitute Police Complaints Authority. "Police" being State subject, the aforesaid judgment was forwarded to State Governments/UT Administrations for its implementation.”

This came in reply to Owaisi’s question, “will the Minister of Home Affairs be pleased to state the names of States and Union Territories who have so far constituted Police Complaint Authorities on redressal mechanism to inquire into the complaints of police misconduct".

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