High Court raps Punjab Government over non-compliance of Supreme Court order on CCTVs in police stations

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, January 22

In a major embarrassment for the Punjab Government, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asserted it has reasons to believe that the directions passed by the Supreme Court on installation of CCTV cameras in all police stations have not been complied with by the state in the letter and spirit.

Justice NS Shekhawat asked the Director General of Police to file his personal affidavit on the issue. Among other things, he has been asked to specify whether the CCTV systems have been installed in all the police stations, CIA offices and police posts in each district.

The directions came as Justice Shekhawat made it clear that there were serious lapses not only on the part of the SHO concerned, but also the district-level “oversight committee” on the issue of preservation of CCTV footage of a police station.

Justice Shekhawat was hearing petitions for bail and independent probe filed by accused in a drugs case registered under the provisions of the NDPS Act on June 20, 2022, at the Sultanpur Lodhi police station in Kapurthala district.

Justice Shekhawat’s Bench was told that CCTV camera recordings and the video clips of the entry and exit points of the Sultanpur Lodhi police station and its lockup were not preserved by the SHO despite a special court’s direction on an application by the accused claiming they had been wrongly arrested in the evening on June 20, 2022.

Justice Shekhawat asserted the averments in a reply by Sultanpur Lodhi Sub-Division DSP following court directions were not only evasive, but contemptuous also, while making it clear that the SHO, too, had apparently violated not only the special court orders, but also directions by the Supreme Court in the case of Paramvir Singh Saini. Even Kapurthala SSP’s stand was not only evasive, but in the teeth of directions passed by the Supreme Court.

Justice Shekhawat added that the DGP would specify in his affidavit whether “oversight committees” had been constituted at the state and the district levels? The names and designations of the committee members were also directed to be mentioned.

The DGP was also asked to specifically state that each part of the police station, police-post and CIA was covered and no part was left uncovered. Besides this, he would specify whether CCTV cameras had been installed at all entry and exit points, main gate, all lockups, corridors, lobby, reception area, verandas, rooms used by police officials, hall, outside washrooms, open compound, duty officials room and the back side area of the police station.

Directions by court

• The DGP has been asked to specifically state if CCTV systems had night vision and “consist of audio as well as video footage”.
• Detail arrangements for supplying electricity to CCTV systems during power failures at the police stations, posts and CIA offices.
• Indicate provisions for recording CCTV footage on central servers at the district and state levels, specifying offline and online storage arrangements.
• Confirm if recording equipment can store data for at least 18 months, both on main DVR/NVR and central storage.