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Allahabad High Court has made a very sharp comment on the tendency of keeping citizens in police stations illegally without formal arrest or legal process and then giving the argument of malfunction of cameras for defense in the court.
Senior Judge of Allahabad High Court Justice Atul Sridharan When the police department argued before the bench that the CCTV cameras of the police station were ‘out of order since April 12’, the court termed it as a convenient and unacceptable ploy to avoid police accountability. The court bluntly said that this kind of mockery of the historical guidelines issued by the Supreme Court regarding mandatory cameras in police stations will not be tolerated at all.
As per the background of the case, a citizen was accused of illegally detaining a citizen in the police station for several days without any formal FIR, arrest memo or producing him before a magistrate within 24 hours.
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The family members of the victim approached the High Court against the police action and arbitrariness. Habeas Corpus Petition Had filed.
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It was clearly alleged in the petition that the person concerned was being tortured by keeping him in illegal custody within the boundary walls of the police station.
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When the court summoned the CCTV footage of the police station on the date of the incident to test the fairness of the case and the truth of the allegations, the concerned police officers filed an affidavit saying that the CCTV system of the police station was not working since April 12 due to a technical fault.
During the hearing, when the police said that the cameras had been switched off for months, Justice Atul Sreedharan raised strong questions on the intentions and administrative negligence of the police officers:
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The court remarked that whenever a case of illegal detention, custodial violence or violation of rights in police stations reaches the court, the first and default answer of the police is that the CCTV was switched off or was malfunctioning at the relevant time.
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The bench questioned that if the camera was malfunctioning since April 12, why was the competent authorities or the concerned agency not informed for its repair for so long? Was the system deliberately kept closed so that no digital record of illegal activities carried out inside the police station could be created?
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The court said that CCTV in police stations is not a luxury, but an essential security shield to protect the fundamental rights of citizens and police accountability.
During the hearing, Allahabad High Court made a historic decision of the highest court of the country. Paramveer Singh Saini vs Baljeet Singh (2020) Case guidelines cited:
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Camera mandatory at every corner: The Supreme Court had given strict orders to all the states and union territories of the country to install cameras with night vision and audio-video recording at all key places including the entry gate, exit gate, lockup, corridor, inspector-sub-inspector’s room and reception of every police station.
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18 Months Backup: As per the guidelines, it is mandatory to back up the footage for at least one year (12 to 18 months).
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Instant reporting when camera malfunctions: If any camera of a police station gets damaged, it is the legal responsibility of the Station House Officer (SHO) to inform it to the District Level Monitoring Committee (DLC) and higher officials on the same day and get it repaired in a time bound manner.
The High Court made it clear that violation of human rights and legal processes cannot be allowed under the guise of ‘CCTV malfunction’. The court directed senior police officers to submit a detailed report as to when the official complaint was lodged about the camera malfunctioning and why it was not repaired for so many days. The court warned that if there is any evidence of deliberate concealment of evidence or cover up of illegal detention on the part of the police, contempt and departmental action would be ensured against the guilty policemen concerned.