CCTV cameras must in all police stations, rules Supreme Court

Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 2

In a move aimed at checking police brutality, the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday ordered the Centre, states and union territories to instal CCTV cameras in very police station across the country.

“The governments should ensure that CCTV cameras are installed in each and every police station. In addition, CCTV cameras and recording equipment will be installed in the offices of CBI, NIA, ED, NCB, DRI, SFIO and any other agency that carries out interrogations and has the power of arrest,” a Bench headed by Justice RF Rohinton said.

The CCTV systems must be equipped with night vision. The SHO of the police station concerned would be responsible for the working and maintenance of the cameras, it added. It also ordered constitution of oversight committees at state and district levels for this purpose.

The order came in a case relating to CCTV installation in police stations and examination of witnesses by the police. The CCTV installation was revived by the top court following a case of custodial torture in Punjab.

It said CCTV camera footage should be stored in digital video recorders and/or network video recorders. Importantly, the recording system should be such that the data stored therein is preserved for 18 months.