Allahabad HC Takes Cognizance Of Misbehaviour With Lady Judge, Orders Forensic Examination Of CCTV Footage
The Allahabad High Court has directed the Senior Registrar to preserve the CCTV footage received from A.D.J.-I, Barabanki, and send it to Forensic Science Laboratory, Lucknow to examine for any tampering in the footage, especially regards deletion of content in relation to an incident of misbehavior in the Court of Sushri Arpita Sahu, Civil Judge (JD), posted at Barabanki.
The Bench comprising of Justice Sangeeta Chandra and Justice Narendra Kumar Johari said that "There is a considerable doubt in the mind of this court that the CCTV footage have been tampered with/deleted. Therefore, this Court directs the Senior Registrar to send the CCTV footage sent by the A.D.J.-I, Barabanki to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Lucknow with a request to the Director to examine the same, especially with regard to question of deletion/tampering and submit his report by the next date of listing.”
Advocate Virendra Kumar appeared for the Opposite Party.
In the case, Sushri Arpita Sahu, Civil Judge had accused bar members including the Secretary and Senior Vice President of the Barabanki District Bar Association of misbehavior. The High Court issued an order on October 17, 2022, instructing the First A.D.J., Barabanki, to retain all pertinent CCTV footage related to the Judicial officer's court, including the surrounding corridors and adjacent areas.
During the review of the report presented by A.D.J.-I, Barabanki, the High Court discovered that the court campus had a total of 32 CCTV cameras installed. However, out of these, only 14 were operational, while the remaining 18 were not functioning properly.
The Court remarked that there was evidence of footage missing from the CCTV and hence ordered for forensic examination for the same. The Court said that “From the said report, it is evident that there were 32 CCTV cameras installed in the court campus of which 14 alone were operating and 18 had become dysfunctional. This Court fails to understand that without there being any technical fault reported earlier, footage could be retrieved of only a few hours on each day. There is no report of any technician repairing the cameras.”
Accordingly, the Court listed the matter next for August 4, 2023.
Cause Title: State of U.P v. Ritesh Mishra & Ors.
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