Thiruvananthapuram : Justice K.Narayana Kurup who has been named Chairman of the State Police Complaint Authority (SPCA), has not less than 550 complaints pending against cops, to dispose of. Out of the around 100 complaints registered since January this year, only six have been disposed of. The Chairman’s post of SPCA had been vacant for around six months as K.P.Balachandran who held this post was shifted as Upa Lok Ayukta.
Not less than 450 cases were pending since 2013 of which more than half comprised cases from Thiruvananthapuram district. Most of the cases handled by SPCA in 2013 were the main ones pending with the State before the formation of the authority in 2012.Various NGOs have been complaining about the inability of SPCA to effectively take cases of police excess to a logical ending. Of the many drawbacks of SPCA are the absence of permanent members and a district level mechanism to coordinate the cases.
Along with Kurup, former DGP (Prisons) K.P.Somarajan and district judge Muraleedharan form the SPCA wherein Home secretary and ADGP (head quarters) are official members. Justice Kurup is the author of several landmark public interest judgments including the verdict banning smoking in public places.
