Police Reforms Watch, an NGO working on police reforms and accountability today said that Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan has forwarded their recommendations on Maharashtra Police (Amendment) Bill to the state government for a consideration.
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and Police Reforms Watch, the NGOs working on police reforms and accountability, had met the Governor on June 30, urging him to invoke his powers under Article 200 of the Constitution to withhold his assent to the Bill.
The delegation of citizen activists, led by former Mumbai Police Commissioner J F Ribeiro, had alleged the Bill "was passed in haste without due consideration."
"During our meet with the Governor, we only expected him to understand our anxiety regarding the regressive Bill. We had no idea that the Governor had already given his assent to the Bill before he met us," Dolphy D'Souza, convenor of Police Reforms Watch in Maharashtra said.
Had he told us that he had already given his assent and that after hearing our reservations he would ask the state government to take note of the same, we would have been satisfied, he added.
Meanwhile, officials in the Raj Bhavan said that though the Governor had already given his assent to the Bill on June 24, he has forwarded the recommendations of the citizen activists to Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
"The Governor listens to what the citizens have to tell him and then the concerned authorities are conveyed the message. In this case, too, he listened to them patiently and all that they had to say was conveyed to the CM and the state government has been informed," the officer said.
Maharashtra Police (Amendment) Bill, 2014, passed by both Houses of the state Legislature on June 14 this year is aimed at giving the citizens of Maharashtra a capable, well managed and accountable police.
The Bill seeks to replace an ordinance which made amendments to the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951, to set the state on the path of police reforms. It is also meant to incorporate the directives of the Supreme Court on police reforms.
