1: A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed the registration of a suo motu public interest litigation titled lack of functional CCTVs in police stations.
2: The Supreme Court first mandated CCTV cameras installation in police stations in 2018.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the registration of a suo motu public interest litigation over the lack of functional CCTV cameras in police stations, after taking note of a media report.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said, "...we are directing for registration of a suo motu public interest litigation titled 'lack of functional CCTVs in police stations' as it has been reported that there are about 11 deaths in the last seven-eight months of this year in police custody."
The apex court had first mandated the installation of CCTV cameras in police stations in 2018 to curb human rights violations.
In December 2020, it extended this direction to investigative agencies such as the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, and National Investigation Agency.
The court had also made it compulsory for states and Union Territories to ensure CCTV coverage in every police station — at entry and exit points, main gates, lock-ups, corridors, lobbies, receptions, and outside lock-up rooms — leaving no area uncovered.
It further directed that the systems must have night vision, both audio and video recording, and storage capacity of at least one year, making it mandatory for the Centre, states and UTs to procure such equipment.
