Police complaints authority in India: Evaluating accountability and civilian control
- Bihar Journal of Public Administration
- 21(2), Jul-Dec, 2024: p.685-697
Every citizen has fundamental right to live in a safe and secure environment, as such, it is the duty of the state, especially through police, to provide the same. On the contrary, the people’s trust in police personnel is always in question. In view of the situation, in 2006, the Supreme Court with a view to ensure civil control over police practices in the country, directed to establish Police Complaints Authorities (PCA) at the state and district level. The authority is required to interrogate in complaints against serious police misconduct. Thus, the present paper attempts to evaluate the countrywide progress of PCAs in the last seventeen years. The research analyses the extent to which Supreme Court directives on composition, powers, and transparency are followed in the implementation of PCAs in the country by studying reformed police acts and government notifications on police reforms in various states and union territories. The study deduces that initially PCAs were established in different parts of the country but it remained only on paper. – Reproduced