Prayagraj, Sep 30 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court has said that CCTV systems within police stations must remain operational 24×7 throughout the year and police must follow certain safeguards when such surveillance is non-functional.
If CCTV is non-functional, details of all persons brought for interrogation or arrest must be recorded contemporaneously in the General Diary (GD), it said.
A bench of justices Atul Sreedharan and Achal Sachdev made the observations while hearing a case of Raghvendra Dubey and another.
In its order dated September 23, the court directed that CCTV systems within police stations must remain operational 24/7 and for 365 days.
The court observed, “The facts of this case, prima facie, strongly disclose that the police personnel acted as recovery agents on behalf of the complainant.”
According to the petitioner, he was illegally picked up from Asansol and brought to Sardhuwa police station in Chitrakoot due to a sand-mining agreement dispute.
The state argued that the petitioner was arrested pursuant to non-bailable warrants after the registration of an FIR.
Setting aside the arrest due to a “grossly deficient” arrest memo witnessed only by police personnel, the bench ordered his release and awarded Rs 10,000 as compensation for 24 hours of illegal detention.
The court directed that if a system fails, the Station House Officer (SHO) must make a GD entry recording the exact time of failure and identify the official to whom the failure was reported in writing and the Superintendent of Police (SP) of the district must be informed to ensure minimal downtime and record repair steps.
The court said, “Another worrying aspect of this case to which this court must advert to is the repeated number of cases in which the police are trying to manipulate CCTV cameras within the premises of the police station.”
“During CCTV non-functionality, entry time, departure time, and interrogation details of every suspect must be recorded in the GD. A signed receipt must be obtained from the person or their next of kin upon release,” added the bench.
CCTV footage showed the petitioner entering the police station at 9:00 AM on July 13, 2026, leaving at 10:19 AM with the Investigating Officer in the informant’s vehicle and returning at 8:24 PM. However, his arrest memo recorded arrest at 3:30 PM, and the GD recorded lock-up entry at 6:41 PM. Interior CCTV footage from three cameras was missing or deleted. PTI COR RAJ ZMN
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