All Police Stations & Out-Posts Must Be Fully Equipped With CCTV Cameras by March 31; SOP On Arrest Of Members of Armed Forces To Be Strictly Followed By Police: Orissa HC
In a suo motu PIL, the Orissa High Court recently directed that all the police stations and the police out-posts must be fully equipped with aptly placed and duly located CCTV cameras by March 31, 2025.
The Court also ordered that the State Officials/police personnel shall be under the obligation to strictly follow the SOP formulated by the State Government On Arrest of and Interaction With Members of Armed Forces in Police Stations.
The directions issued in this case emanated from a disturbing incident which occurred in the Bharatpur Police Station in the city of Bhubaneswar. An army officer along with his fiancée had gone to the Police Station late in the night to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) against the miscreants, who had allegedly misbehaved with them. The Police lodged an FIR against the said army officer and his fiancée leging commission of various cognizable offences including the offence of attempt to murder the police personnel in the police station. The officer’s fiancée was arrested.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Justice Savitri Ratho asserted, “Further, there is manifest administrative failure on the part of the State in not installing CCTV facilities in the police station, more so, in the capital of the State, which could have easily revealed the truth.”
Senior Advocate Gautam Mishra represented the Petitioner while Advocate General Pitambar Acharya represented the Respondent.
Based on a letter addressed to the Chief Justice by the Lieutenant General of the MECH INF REGT, Madhya Bharat Area and his meeting with the Chief Justice at the residence, suo motu cognizance of the incident was taken and this case came to be registered as a Public interest Litigation. In the letter, allegations of police brutality were mentioned and it was further stated therein that the Bharatpur Police Station does not have a CCTV installed which is violative of the Supreme Court’s directions.
One more incident recident by Bench was that of the year 1989 in which a Chief Judicial Magistrate of Nadiad, who had gone to the police station was arrested and taken to hospital for medical examination on the charge of having consumed liquor in breach of prohibition law in force in the State of Gujarat. The Chief Judicial Magistrate was photographed in handcuffs with a rope tied around his body, along with the constables which were published in the newspapers all over the country.
On an earlier occasion, the Advocate General had informed the Court that out of 650 police Stations in the State of Odisha, 559 police stations were equipped with CCTV cameras. This is how the present suo motu PIL came to be registered.
“We cannot, however, ignore that realizing the lapse the State and its officials in the present case, in our opinion, have acted promptly and with this Court’s intervention satisfactory target has been achieved, not only in installation of the CCTV cameras in the police stations, their relocation, maintenance and integration in the Central Monitoring System (CMS) of the State Police Headquarters, Cuttack”, it said.
The Bench was further informed of the fact that not only in the police stations, the work of installation of CCTV cameras in 95 police outposts had been taken up by Odisha Computer Application Center (OCAC) in November 2024. The State Government has asked the OCAC to complete the work of installation of CCTV cameras in the police outposts by March 31, 2025.
The High Court thus closed the present suo motu PIL with the following observations and directions:
- All the police stations and the police out-posts in the State of Odisha must be fully equipped with aptly placed and duly located CCTV cameras by 31.03.2025. Their integration with the Central Monitoring System (CMS) through Video Management System (VMS) must also be completed by the said date.
- The State Officials/police personnel shall be under the obligation to strictly follow the SOP formulated by the State Government ON ARREST OF AND INTERACTION WITH MEMBERS OF ARMED FORCES IN POLICE STATIONS as has been noted hereinabove. The said SOP should be duly publicized and effective steps should be taken to ensure that the police personnel are made aware of the provisions of the SOP. The said SOP should be circulated in odia language to all the police stations and the police outposts of the State.
- The State Government and the Police Headquarters must ensure that the assurance given to this Court in the affidavits filed by Mr. Gangwar is not breached.
- We reiterate that no observation made in the present order should prejudice the police investigation being conducted by the Crime Branch or the inquiry being held under the provisions of Commission of Inquiry Act.
The Bench also appreciated Senior Counsel Gautam Mishra appearing as Amicus Curiae at the Court’s request and for his assistance. Concluding the matter, the Bench further said, “Mr. Gangwar discharged his function as an officer of this Court and has acted proactively in obtaining inputs and carrying out the work of installation of CCTV Cameras in the police stations and the police outposts as well as the integration in CMS.”
Cause Title: Registrar Judicial, Orissa High Court, Cuttack v. The State of Odisha & Ors. (Case No. SUO MOTU W.P.(C) No. 23735 of 2024)
Appearance:
Petitioner: Senior Advocate Gautam Mishra (Amicus Curiae), Advocate A. Dash
Respondents: Advocate General Pitambar Acharya, Addl. Govt. Advocate Saswat Das
