Advocate General for one more police officer on grievances redressal panels

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The Advocate General of Keralam has suggested the inclusion of one more police officer in the proposed district-level redressal grievance committees to be formed to look into issues of conflict between lawyers and police personnel.

The previous Left Democratic Front government had initiated discussions to form the committees at State and district levels following an unruly incident between lawyers and police personnel on Kollam district court premises in 2022.

Going by the original proposal, the State-level committee shall have the Advocate General, Director General of Police, and three members of the Bar to be nominated by the High Court Bar Association, including its president, the Superintendent of Police of the area concerned, and the president of the Bar Association to which the complainant advocate belongs, as the members. The Principal District Judge, the District Police Chief, the District Government Pleader, the president of the Bar Association to which the complainant advocate is a member, and a member of the Bar Association concerned would be on the district committees. The constitution of the committees was fixed by the Kerala High Court on a petition that came up for its consideration.

However, the Supreme Court, on an appeal filed by the Kerala Police Officers Association, directed that one more police officer shall be included in the district-level committees. The apex court also directed that the task given to the state or the district-level committees cannot be used for diluting the powers, duties or responsibilities of the authorised police officers for the maintenance of law and order or for the enforcement of the rule of law, according to a note prepared by K. Jaju Babu, Advocate General, Keralam.

The apex court has also directed that the two committees shall not recommend any punitive action against a police officer without giving the officer concerned an adequate opportunity of being heard.

The AG has also approached the state government to issue an office memorandum in tune with the Supreme Court directives.

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