HC asks Maharashtra DGP to take stock of CCTV cameras at police stations, report on data storage

Mumbai, Jul 16 (PTI) The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra Director General of Police to launch a state-wide fact-finding exercise to take an overall view of CCTV cameras installed across all police stations and submit a report about the duration for which their data is preserved. A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad issued the directive to the DGP on Wednesday after expressing concern over the submission by Mumbai's Ghatkopar police station that CCTV footage older than six months was unavailable. The HC noted the state chief secretary had given an undertaking to the court in the past committing to expand capacity and ensure footage recorded by CCTV cameras at police stations was preserved for 18 months. The court was hearing a criminal writ petition filed by one Prashant Satyawan Kokane, who argued his case in person. Kokane told the court he had submitted an application to the senior Inspector of the Ghatkopar police station on April 15, 2025, less than a month after an incident which occurred between March 17-20, 2025, specifically requesting for preservation of its CCTV footage. However, the state government had informed the court that the footage demanded by the applicant was unavailable as the police station preserves CCTV data only for a period of six months and that duration had lapsed when the video tapes were sought. The bench noted that the police's stand was in contrast to the Supreme Court guidelines and explicit undertakings previously given by the state government to upgrade backup capacities to 18 months. It was referring to a landmark Supreme Court judgment in Paramvir Singh Saini v. Baljit Singh case, which mandated comprehensive CCTV coverage across all entry and exit points, cells, corridors, and lounges of police stations. Further, the bench cited a March 2022 HC order where the state chief secretary had given an undertaking to the court committing to expand and "top up" the systems, ensuring that data backups are kept for 18 months and that generators are supplied to handle irregular power supply. "We call upon the Director General of Police to initiate a fact-finding exercise to take an overall view of all police stations in Maharashtra, in the light of the Paramvir Singh's judgment, and submit a report as regards the functionality of CCTV cameras and the period of preservation of the data in the hard disks connected with all CCTVs," the high court said. The bench asserted that the report should also mention why the Ghatkopar Police Station submitted that CCTV footage cannot be preserved beyond six months. The police have been asked to submit the report by August 10, when the matter will be heard again. . PTI AVI RSY