Jharkhand High Court directs State to ensure 18-month storage capacity for CCTV Cameras at police stations

The Jharkhand High Court recently directed the State government and Director General of Police (DGP) to ensure that CCTV cameras installed in the police stations store data for at least 18 months [Propertymen Realty Pvt. Ltd v. The State of Jharkhand & Ors]..Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi passed the order after noting that no action had been taken to comply with the directions of the Supreme Court regarding the proper maintenance of CCTV cameras at the police stations.The Court, therefore, directed the DGP to ensure that CCTV cameras are installed in each and every police station with no part left uncovered. It added that these CCTVs must be installed within three months at all entry and exit points, the main gate of the police station, all lock-ups, all corridors, the lobby or the reception area, all verandas/outhouses, Inspector's room, sub-inspector's room, areas outside the lock-up room, the station hall, in front of the police station compound, outside (not inside) washrooms/toilets, Duty Officer’s room, back part of the police station, etc.“The State of Jharkhand and the Director General of Police, Jharkhand shall ensure that equipment installed must be able to store the data for 18 months,” the Court added..It passed the directions while hearing a petition seeking the quashing of a First Information Report (FIR) related to a dispute over the purchase of flats and a loan. The allegations in the case also related to alleged dishonour of cheque.Notably, the accused in the FIR alleged that the Dhanbad Police in connivance with the informant, forced them to sign a Memorandum of Understanding. In this context, the Court had in July, directed the police to preserve the CCTV footage at Bankmore Police Station for the relevant dates. However, the police later said that the footage was not available as the system only stores data for 10 days. Though the Court declined to interfere with the FIR due to there being disputed questions of facts, the Court called it strange that the State as well as the DGP had not ensured proper CCTV maintenance in a place like Dhanbad, where the crime rate was high.The Court proceeded to direct the State and DGP to ensure the installation of CCTV cameras with 18 days storage capacity..Advocates Indrajit Sinha, Ajay Kumar Sah and Rishav Kumar represented the petitioners. Advocate Binit Chandra represented the State. Advocate N Parth Sarthi represented the Union of India. Advocates Nilesh Kumar, Amit Kumar Sinha and Sonal Sodhani represented the informant..[Read Order]