Key Points

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a suo motu case registered over the lack of functional CCTV cameras in police stations across the country.

Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, assisting the top court, submitted that while some states had complied with judicial orders on CCTV installation, several others had not.

"The Union has not complied – neither NIA, nor ED, nor CBI," he added.

At this, Justice Mehta emphasised that the issue was not merely one of compliance but of real-time oversight.

"The issue is oversight. Today, there may be a compliance affidavit; tomorrow, officers may switch off cameras. We were thinking of a control room without human intervention. If any camera goes off, it should raise a flag," he remarked.

"We can even think of involving IIT to provide a mechanism so that CCTV footage is monitored without human intervention," he added.

Reserving its decision, the Justice Vikram Nath-led Bench directed that the matter be listed next week for pronouncement of the order.

The Supreme Court took cognisance of a media report which revealed that 11 people had died in police custody in Rajasthan in the first eight months of 2025.

"We have come across a disturbing news article… The news article reveals that there have been 11 deaths in police custody in the State of Rajasthan in the past 8 months in the year of 2025, 7 of these unfortunate incidents happened in the Udaipur Division itself," the bench noted in its order passed on September 4.

The news report also pointed out that many remand rooms in police stations are outside the range of CCTV cameras and that police often withhold footage citing technical faults, lack of storage, ongoing investigations or legal restrictions. In some cases, the police simply refused to share the footage or delayed its release.

"We, therefore, take suo motu cognisance of the aforesaid news article under the heading ‘In Re: Lack of functional CCTVs in Police Stations’ and direct the Registry to place these proceedings before Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India for appropriate follow-up action," the top court ordered.

The Supreme Court has already mandated the installation of CCTV cameras in police stations to maintain transparency and to curb instances of custodial torture. It had directed that no part of a police station be left uncovered and that footage be preserved for at least 18 months in digital or network video recorders. In 2023, the apex court had given the Centre and states a “last chance” to comply within three months. It had also made station house officers (SHOs) personally responsible for maintenance, data backup and repair of CCTV systems.

- IANS