A Division Bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Divesh Chandra Samant made the observation while dealing with a petition alleging the illegal detention of four persons by police in Uttar Pradesh’s Gauri Bazar.
The Court noted that as per the report of the Superintendent of Police, the CCTV footage of the day when the four persons were detained was not available, and that the Station House Officer had neither intimated his superior officers about the dysfunctional CCTV nor taken steps to get power supply restored.
The Court said that while mechanical and electronic devices can fail, the downtime must remain minimal and the SHO must take steps to restore the functionality of CCTVs.
In case he is unable to do so, the problem must be escalated to the superior officers, the Court added.
“The utility of the CCTV systems within the Thana is important and the same cannot be underscored enough.
A Division Bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Divesh Chandra Samant made the observation while dealing with a petition alleging the illegal detention of four persons by police in Uttar Pradesh’s Gauri Bazar.
The Court noted that as per the report of the Superintendent of Police, the CCTV footage of the day when the four persons were detained was not available, and that the Station House Officer had neither intimated his superior officers about the dysfunctional CCTV nor taken steps to get power supply restored.
The Court said that while mechanical and electronic devices can fail, the downtime must remain minimal and the SHO must take steps to restore the functionality of CCTVs.
In case he is unable to do so, the problem must be escalated to the superior officers, the Court added.
“The utility of the CCTV systems within the Thana is important and the same cannot be underscored enough. It provides evidence that can protect the police from allegations of excesses and deviations from the law and at the same time it is also evidence to damn their actions where the police resorts to extra judicial methods transgressing the law and trammeling on the constitutional rights of fellow citizens,” the Court emphasised.
