The Jharkhand High Court has directed the state government to move swiftly on installing CCTV cameras in every police station, observing that proper surveillance is essential to ensure accountability and protect citizens’ rights.
A division bench of Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Rajesh Shankar issued the order on Tuesday in the presence of Chief Secretary Avinash Kumar, Home Secretary Vandana Dadel and DGP Tadasha Mishra.
The bench directed the senior officials to complete both the detailed project report (DPR) and the tendering process for the CCTV installation by December 31. The state has been asked to file a compliance report before the court by January 5.
The case reached the High Court after petitioner Shaubhik Banerjee from West Bengal alleged that he was unlawfully detained for two days at Bank More police station in Dhanbad. Banerjee had gone there in connection with a cheque dishonour case. He claimed that his rivals, who had filed the complaint, influenced the police to hold him without justification.
To verify the allegation, the High Court sought the CCTV footage from the police station. Police officials responded that the data automatically gets deleted after two days.
The court expressed concern over the lack of adequate digital storage and monitoring systems and sought a detailed report from the government on the status of CCTV cameras across all police stations.
