NEW DELHI: Having noted 11 custodial deaths in recent months, the Supreme Court on Thursday registered a suo motu case with regard to absence of CCTV cameras inside police stations.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed for instituting the case after a news report by Hindi daily, Dainik Bhaskar claimed 11 deaths in last eight to nine months inside the police stations.
"We are directing registeration of suo motu public interest litigation titled as lack of functional CCTVs in police stations," the bench said.
In a judgment, a three-judge bench of Justices R F Nariman, K M Joseph and Anirudhha Bose had in December, 2020 directed all the States and Union Territories to install CCTV cameras in all police stations.
The court had then said that the directions are in furtherance of the fundamental rights of each citizen of India guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, and hence, authorities are to implement this order both in letter and in spirit as soon as possible.
It also directed CCTVs should be installed also in offices of investigative agencies, such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Directorate of Enforcement, and the National Investigation Agency, that conduct investigations and have the power of arrest.
The court also said CCTV cameras must be installed with such recording systems so that the stored data should be preserved for a period of 18 months.
It had then noted nothing substantial has been done in this regard for a period of over two-and-half years since the first order passed on April 3, 2018.
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