If Any Police Station Left Outside Coverage Area Of CCTV Camera, Such Lapse Shall Be Considered As Contempt Of Court: Madhya Pradesh HC
|The Madhya Pradesh High Court has warned that if any police station is left outside the coverage area of CCTV camera, then such lapse shall be considered as Contempt of Court.
The Jabalpur Bench was dealing with a writ petition seeking appropriate action against delinquent police officers who allegedly made a conspiracy against the petitioner to log a false and fabricated FIR.
A Single Bench of Justice G.S. Ahluwalia said, “In future if it is found that in a Police Station an area was left outside the coverage area of CCTV camera, then such lapse shall be considered as Contempt of Court, and action shall be taken against the Superintendent of Police of the said District and also S.H.O. of concerning Police Station for Contempt of Court.”
The Bench directed Director General of Police (DGP) to ensure that each and every room of the Police Station is fitted with CCTV Camera with audio facility.
Advocate Abhishek Pandey appeared on behalf of the petitioner while Government Advocate Vijayendra Singh Choudhary and Advocate Satyam Agrawal appeared on behalf of the respondents.
Brief Facts -
It was submitted by the counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner was illegally detained and badly beaten by Police Authorities inside the Police Station Bhalumada, Distt. Anuppur, in September 2023 and he was released after 12 hours after serving a notice under Section 41-A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Thus, the petition was filed against Police Atrocities in Police Station Bhalumada Distt. Anuppur itself. The dispute arose when the villagers stopped the movement of trucks of the company where the petitioner was working. As per petitioner’s claim, since he was the in-charge of the company, therefore, he also went to the spot where one of the respondents was already present.
The petitioner asked him about the matter and the said respondent demanded illegal gratification of Rs. 5,000/-. Accordingly, petitioner got angry and shouted at him and in response to that, the respondent started beating him. Thereafter, all the staff of the Police Station reached the spot and petitioner was taken to the Police Station where he was taken into a room with a Bamboo stick. It was claimed that no CCTV camera was installed in the said room and the petitioner was brutally beaten. Thereafter, respondents allegedly hatched a conspiracy and lodged the false FIR against the petitioner.
The High Court in view of the above facts, observed, “It appears, that the Director General Of Police did not take care of direction issued by this Court to Superintendent of Police Gwalior to ensure that CCTV Cameras must be installed in such a manner that every room of the concerning Police Station is covered by the CCTV camera and did not ensure that the same direction is implemented in every Police Station situated in the entire State.”
The Court directed the DGP to immediately call report from every Superintendent of Police of each District to the effect as to whether any room or space within the Police Station so situated in their respective District has any black spot (without CCTV Camera) and should ensure that every room and every space within the Police Station is fitted with CCTV Cameras within a period of 3 months.
“In the present case, the Superintendent of Police, Anuppur did not care to ensure the compliance of directions given by Supreme Court in the case of Paramvir Singh (Supra). This shows dereliction of duties on the part of Superintendent of Police, Anuppur”, it noted.
The Court further directed the DGP to ensure that report from every Superintendent of Police is received by him within a period of one month, and thereafter, every space including every room situated in respective Police Station be brought within the coverage area of CCTV Camera, within a period of two months from thereafter.
“The Director General of Police is directed to submit his report with regard to installation of CCTV cameras at every place in all the Police Stations of the State of M.P. latest by 18-2-2025. In case if the report is not submitted then the Registrar General of this Court is directed to register a separate case for Contempt of Court”, it added.
Accordingly, the High Court allowed the petition and imposed a cost of Rs. 1,20,000/- on the respondents.
Cause Title- Akhilesh Pandey v. The State of Madhya Pradesh and Others (Neutral Citation: 2024:MPHC-JBP:52292)