SC raps Centre, states over non-functional CCTV cameras in police stations
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday reprimanded the Centre and several state governments for their continued failure to comply with its directions mandating functional CCTV cameras in all police stations across the country.
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, hearing the suo motu matter titled “In Re: Lack of Functional CCTVs in Police Stations”, observed that the Union government appeared to be taking the orders of the apex court “very lightly”.
The Bench took note of a media report highlighting that 11 people had died in police custody in Rajasthan in the first eight months of 2025, with seven deaths reported from the Udaipur division alone.
During the hearing, senior advocate Sidharth Dave, appearing as amicus curiae, submitted a detailed chart outlining the compliance status received from various states. He pointed out that most states had not addressed the required Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for installation, maintenance and data preservation of CCTV systems.
The Bench remarked that Madhya Pradesh had emerged as a “model state”, noting that every police station there was reportedly linked to a central surveillance control room.
However, the court expressed strong displeasure over the Centre’s continued failure to file any affidavit or compliance report despite repeated directions.
“The Union is still lacking in compliance. The Union is taking the court very lightly. Why?” the Bench asked.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, assured the court that an affidavit would be filed, but the Bench responded that “not just an affidavit, but compliance” was expected. “Now this country will not tolerate this blot,” the court remarked.
The amicus further informed the court that agencies such as the NIA and CBI did not have dedicated budgets for CCTV infrastructure.
In its order, the Supreme Court recorded that only 11 states and Union Territories had filed compliance affidavits in the suo motu matter. Granting a final period of three weeks, the Bench directed the remaining states and Central agencies to file their affidavits by December 16.
The court made it clear that failure to comply would require the personal appearance of the Chief Secretaries of the defaulting states and the heads of the respective investigating agencies.
The apex court has already mandated the installation of CCTV cameras in all police stations to ensure transparency and prevent custodial torture. It had ordered that no part of a police station be left uncovered and that footage be preserved for at least 18 months in digital or network video recorders.
In 2023, the Supreme Court had given the Centre and states a “final opportunity” to comply within three months and had made Station House Officers personally responsible for the maintenance, data backup and repair of CCTV systems.
With IANS inputs