Are CCTV Cameras In Police Stations Working? What Is Their Recording Capacity? High Court Asks Punjab, Haryana & Chandigarh Admin

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has asked the Chandigarh administration and the governments of Punjab and Haryana to give details on the status of CCTV cameras installed at the police stations.

The bench of Justice Alok Jain directed the counsel for the states and UT to file a specific affidavit detailing the following points:

“1. Whether all the Cameras/CCTV are in working condition? 2. What is the Duration of CCTV Camera recording i.e storage capacity? 3. What arrangements/agreements have been made for proper repair/maintenance agreements?”

The query was made while hearing of a batch of pleas filed for installation of CCTV cameras in police stations. It includes a petition filed by Gangster Kaushal, who alleged that he was being tortured by the police in their custody.

In February 2022, the Bench of Justice Amol Rattan Singh had directed the States of Punjab, Haryana, and UT Chandigarh to install CCTV cameras in all police stations including the interrogation rooms, with 18 months storage capacity, following the Supreme Court's guideline in Paramvir Singh Saini v. Baljit Singh and others (2021). In this case, the Apex Court had directed the State and Union Territory Governments to ensure that CCTV cameras are installed in each and every Police Station functioning under them.

The Court noted that as per status report, more than 90% police posts in Punjab have been covered by CCTV Cameras and the remaining shall also be completed before September 15.

The matter is now listed for October 17, for further consideration.

Case Title: Kamla Devi v State of Punjab & Ors.

Appearance: Amandeed Dingn, Advocate for petitioner in CRWP-5521-2021.

Tej Bahadur, Sourabh Goel, Advocates for the petitioners in CRWP-6437-2021.

Vipul Jindal, Advocate for the petitioner in CRWP-9160-2021, CRWP-8209-2022 & CRWP-480-2021.

Nikhil Ghai, Advocate for the petitioner in CRM-M-43672-2021

P..S. Bajwa, Addl. A.G., Punjab along with Mr. Kamalpreet Bawa, AAG, Punjab.

Deepak Saberwal, Addl. A.G., Haryana along with Mr. Tanui Sharma, AAG, Harvana

Rajeev Anand, Addl. P.P., U.T., Chandigarh.

Click Here to Read/Download the Order