Delhi High Court Seeks Status Report On A Plea Seeking To Ensure That CCTV Cameras Installed In Police Stations Are Functional

Single Bench of Justice Yashwant Verma issued directions to file a status report and listed it for further hearing on 25 May, 2022.

The petition has been filed by one Chandril Dabas through Advocate Manan Agarwal.

The petitioner has sought direction to the Commissioner of Police and The Delhi government to not just ensure that CCTV cameras are functional but to also ensure that all the footages recorded in these cameras are atleast stored for 1 year or 18 months as directed by the Supreme Court in the case of Parambir Singh Saini v Baljit Singh and Ors.

He states that on 14 June, 2021 he was going to his factory situated at Bawana Industrial Area as it was the first day when movement was allowed by government after the lockdown. He was stopped at Rohini Metro Station by the police officials and asked to show his E- pass for the movement.

He tried to explain to the officials that he was going to the factory to get documents for application of an E-pass but they didn't listen and took him to the police station North Rohini. He states that during the whole time he was at Rohini police station he was harassed by the police officials and threatened that he will have to spend the whole night at the police station and that his car would be seized and he will get imprisonment for a month.

Aggrieved by this he filed an application before the Metropolitan Magistrate seeking direction to SHO to preserve the recordings to all CCTV cameras installed in Police Station. In reply to this the Investigating Officer filed a reply saying that the footages could not be preserved as the footage backup is only for 18 days.

The petitioner states that the very purpose of the CCTV footage gets defeated if the footages automatically gets deleted within 18 days. He states that he is disturbed because of the non compliance of the Supreme Court judgement as also the Metropolitan Magistrates order. HE states that the delay caused by the police officials was on purpose to save the culprit from punishment.

For the above reasons he has moved Delhi High Court.