New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) Independent specialised agencies to deal with police misconduct, including death, torture and rape in custody, do not seem to be welcome in India, said experts Saturday. In most states, these authorities exist only on paper.
The experts, who attended a two-day meet that started Saturday, discussed ways to strengthen the system and focused on some of the misgivings about the working of the authorities tackling complaints against police.
The meet on new policing and working of the police complaint authorities was organised by NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
The concept of independent oversight of police was new to India and judging from the extent of implementation, not particularly welcome, it said.
The Supreme Court in 2006 directed the states to set up specialised police complaint agencies called police complaint authorities.
Till date, functional authorities existed only in six states – Assam, Goa, Haryana, Kerala, Tripura and Uttarakhand, the NGO said.
Four union territories had also taken the initiative to establish such authorities and these are Chandigarh, Puducherry, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, it said.
According to the NGO, the meet aimed at bridging the gap between various functional police complaint authorities, providing a forum for dialogue between police complaint authorities, police leadership and members of the civil society to overcome obstacles.
The NGO said the complaint agencies were intended to be independent of police, close to the local population and mandated to deal with serious police misconduct, particularly death, torture and rape in custody.
The meet on new policing and working of the police complaint authorities was organised by NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
The concept of independent oversight of police was new to India and judging from the extent of implementation, not particularly welcome, it said.
The Supreme Court in 2006 directed the states to set up specialised police complaint agencies called police complaint authorities.
Till date, functional authorities existed only in six states – Assam, Goa, Haryana, Kerala, Tripura and Uttarakhand, the NGO said.
Four union territories had also taken the initiative to establish such authorities and these are Chandigarh, Puducherry, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, it said.
According to the NGO, the meet aimed at bridging the gap between various functional police complaint authorities, providing a forum for dialogue between police complaint authorities, police leadership and members of the civil society to overcome obstacles.
The NGO said the complaint agencies were intended to be independent of police, close to the local population and mandated to deal with serious police misconduct, particularly death, torture and rape in custody.
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