Chennai: Veteran actor Kamal Haasan’s political party MNM approached the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the Tamil Nadu government to form an independent police complaints panel to look into allegations of police brutality and torture. A former IPS officer and general secretary of the MNM party AG Maurya filed a plea in Madras High Court. The two member bench of Justices R Subbaiah and Krishnan Ramaswamy admitted the plea and directed the state government to file a counter affidavit within two weeks.

The petition has been filed in the backdrop of the death of a father-son duo in Tuticorin district after allegedly being tortured and beaten up in a police station, which triggered a nation-wide outrage. The PIL sought to declare provisions of the Tamil Nadu Police (Reforms) Act, under which the present police complaints authority is established, as “unconstitutional” and “illegal”. Referring to a Supreme Court judgement, the petitioner said it had directed the states to introduce appropriate legislations for police reforms, including constitution of an independent complaints committee.

As per the Supreme Court directions that such committee shall comprise independent panel members nominated by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned the state and other members selected from amongst retired government officials and members from civil society. However, the government has failed in this mandate and instead created a paper authority, without a single independent member, and comprising only those who can be appointed by the state government at its discretion, including police officials, the petitioner alleged.

Therefore, the provisions under which the present panel is established is liable to be struck down in so far as they lie in derogation of the principles of fair trial which are also enshrined as part of the fundamental rights in the Constitution, he added.