Complain About The Police To The Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority (Mah. SPCA) / राज्य पोलीस तक्रार प्राधिकरण

Updated: 18-May-2022

This article deals with the setup, procedure and working of The Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority (Maharashtra SPCA) राज्य पोलीस तक्रार प्राधिकरण which is established to receive complaints about Police Officers in Maharashtra.

You can complain about various Police excesses, wrongful arrest, wrongful detention, property grabbing, harassment, human rights violations, custodial violence, custodial death and even malpractice and corruption by police officers. A Complaint against any Maharashtra Police or Mumbai Police, Pune Police, Nagpur Police, Nashik Police, Thane Police, Amravati, Police, Aurangabad Police, Navi Mumbai Police, Solapur Police, Pimpri Chinchwad Police, Raigad Police, Kolhapur Police, Satara Police officer is also dealt with by this Authority. 

Which laws govern the working of the Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority?

• Maharashtra Police (Amendment and Continuance) Ordinance, 2014 (Mah. Ord. VIII
  of 2014) Published on 5th April 2014 and deemed to come into force on 1st February 2014.
• Maharashtra Division Level Police Complaint Authority (Administration and Procedure) Regulations, 2018
• Maharashtra Government Resolution No.: NPC-1008/2/CR-6/POL-3, dated 25th July 2008
• Maharashtra Government Resolution No.: PCA-1013/CR-109/Pol-3 dated 15th July 2013

In addition to this, the Supreme Court Case that brought about the Government to form the Complaints Authority was:
Judgment dated the 22nd September 2006 (reported in (2006) 8 SCC of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition (Civil) No.310/1996 in Prakash Singh and Others Vs. Union of India and Others.

How many Police Complaint Authorities exist?

As per the Law, 2 Police Complaint Authorities should be formed:

• State Level / राज्य पोलीस तक्रार प्राधिकरण
• District Level / विभागीय पोलीस तक्रार प्राधिकरण for each District.

However, presently there is only the State Level Complaints Authority which has been setup. The Divisional Level Authority for Konkan Division is coming up in Kharghar.

Where is the Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority located?

The address of the Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority is:

Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority (State Level)
4th Floor, MTNL Cooperage Telephone Exchange Building,
Opp. Cooperage Football Ground, Maharshi Karve Road,
Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021.
022-22820045 / 22820046 / 22820067
mahaspca@gmail.com

How many State and Division Level Police Complaints Authorities are there in Maharashtra?

There is one State Level Authority (Located in Mumbai) and one Division Level Authority for each Revenue Division in Maharashtra.

This means that there will be one Divisional Authority for:

• Konkan
• Pune
• Nashik
• Aurangabad
• Amravati and
• Nagpur

Divisional Police Complaints Authority (Pune Division)
Anant Heights, 1st Floor, Jadhav Nagar, Ahead of Nanded City,
Survey No. 29/2/1, Sinhagad Road, Pune 411068
020 – 24380074/75/79
dlpcpune@gmail.com

What is the composition of the Mah. SPCA?

As per the Maharashtra Police (Amendment and Continuance) Ordinance, 2014 which came into force on the 1st February 2014:

22P. (2) The State Police Complaints Authority shall consist of the following members, namely:—

	Position	Designation
(a)	A retired High Court Judge	Chairperson
(b)	A Police Officer superannuated in the rank not below the rank of Special Inspector General of Police	Member
(c)	A person of eminence from the civil society	Member
(d)	A retired officer not below the rank of Secretary to the State Government	Member
(e)	Officer not below the rank of Additional Director General and Inspector General of Police	Member-Secretary

22S. (2) The Division Level Police Complaints Authority shall consist of the following members, namely:

	Position	Designation
(a)	A retired Principal District Judge	Chairperson
(b)	A Police Officer superannuated not below the rank of Superintendent of Police	Member
(c)	Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters)	Member
(d)	A person of eminence from civil society	Member
(e)	An officer of the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police or equivalent.	Member-Secretary

Who appoints the members of the Mah. SPCA?

As per the Maharashtra Police (Amendment and Continuance) Ordinance, 2014 which came into force on the 1st February 2014:

22P. (4) The Chairperson of the State Police Complaints Authority shall be chosen by the State Government out of a panel of names proposed by the Chief Justice of the High Court.

Who are the officers who are currently a part of the Mah. SPCA?

Sr. No.	Designation	Currently (2020)
1.	Chairperson	Justice Shrihari P. Davare, Retd. Judge of the Bombay High Court
2.	IPS Member	RETIRED IPS OFFICER (VACANT) to be appointed by the State Home Department
3.	IAS Member	RETIRED IAS OFFICER (VACANT) to be appointed by the Chief Secretary, Maharashtra State
4.	Civil Society Member	EMINENT MEMBER OF CIVIL SOCIETY (VACANT)
5.	Member-Secretary	Additional Director General of Police (Administration) EX OFFICIO

Former Members of the Authority

Sr. No.	Designation	Former (2019)
1.	Chairperson	Justice A V Potdar, Retd. Judge of the Bombay High Court
2.	Member	Shri Prem Kishan Jain, Ex-Addl. Director General of the Maharashtra Police
3.	Member – Civil Society Representative	Shri Umakant Mitkar
4.	Member
5.	Member-Secretary	Additional Director General of Police (Administration) Dr. Pradnya Sarvade,

Does the Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority (Mah. SPCA) have a website?

The Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority (Mah. SPCA) official website is still not active. Once it is up, we will provide the URL here.

Notification CR 56... Notification CR 56

In what format should we complain about the Police to the Mah. SPCA?

Self Attested Declaration

On plain paper (No Court fee required)

I Shri/Smt./Ms. ____________________ son / daughter / wife / widow of_______________________ __________ aged _________ years, permanent and current address as given below, having Aadhaar No. _______________ (self attested copy attached) do swear in the name of God and/or  hereby solemnly affirm and state as follows:

That I am the complainant in the accompanying complaint / have authorized Shri / Smt. / Ms. ______________________________________________________ to file the authorized Shri/ Smt./ Ms.____________________________________________ to file the accompanying complaint as I am unable to file the same because of________________________________________________ ________________________________________ reason.

That the facts stated in the attached complaint in paras __________________________________ are true to the best of my knowledge and in paras ______________________________________ are true to my information and belief.

I therefore request you to enquire into the above complaint and take further action as deemed fit.

Deponent

Name : ________________________

Permanent Address

Who can make a complaint to the Mah. SPCA?

The Mah. SPCA can take cognizane of a complaint:

• suo motu
• on a complaint by
  • a victim or
    • any member of his/her family or
    • any other person on his/her behalf
  • the National Human Rights Commission
  • the State Human Rights Commission
  • the police themselves, in case of:
    • death in police custody
    • grievous hurt caused (as defined under section 320 of the Indian Penal Code) by a police officer
    • rape or attempt to commit rape by a police officer
    • arrest or detention by a police officer without following the prescribed procedure;
    • corruption by a police officer
    • extortion by a police officer
    • land or house grabbing by a police officer
    • any other matter involving serious violation of any provision of law or abuse of lawful authority by a police officer

Within how much time does a complaint have to be filed with the Mah. SPCA?

What are the remedies that the Mah. SPCA can provide?

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