SC Fixes March 14 Meet on Centralised CCTV Monitoring for Police Stations
Centre, states to join March 14 talks after missing earlier meeting
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre and other stakeholders to participate in a meeting for creation of a centralised dashboard and standardisation of CCTV infrastructure in police stations.
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order after senior advocate Siddhartha Dave, assisting the court as amicus curiae, informed that a meeting held on February 21 pursuant to the court’s January 29 order could not achieve the intended outcome as the Union government, the Delhi government and some states did not participate.
Recording the submission, the court said: “Counsel for the Union of India already apologised that due to some communication gap, it could not participate in the meeting. He, however, assures us that in the next meeting they will extend all cooperation. The amicus has suggested March 14, 2026, as the next date for a meeting. Let the meeting be held as directed earlier on March 14, 2026.”
The matter has been listed for further hearing on March 23.
The court had earlier registered a suo motu public interest litigation after taking note of a media report highlighting lack of functional CCTV cameras in police stations.
In 2018, the apex court directed installation of CCTV cameras in police stations across the country. In December 2020, it further ordered installation of CCTV cameras and recording systems in offices of investigating agencies, including the CBI, ED and National Investigation Agency.
The court had directed that CCTV cameras be installed at all entry and exit points, main gates, lock-ups, corridors, lobbies and reception areas, and outside lock-up rooms to ensure complete coverage. It had also mandated that the systems have night vision, audio and video recording facilities, and data storage capacity of at least one year.