Overview

• Lieutenant Governor V. K. Saxena’s August 13 notification designates all 226 Delhi police stations as venues for officers to depose before courts via video conferencing, citing draft BNSS model rules and efficiency goals.
• Lawyers across six district courts abstained from work on August 22 and 23, leading to adjournments of many trial proceedings while urgent matters were selectively taken up.
• The Supreme Court Bar Association condemned the order as arbitrary and unlawful and urged an immediate withdrawal, saying it compromises judicial sanctity and fair administration of justice.
• Bar leaders argue remote depositions from police-controlled sites risk influenced testimony and erode fair-trial safeguards, pointing to a July 15, 2024 Home Secretary circular that said police stations should not be designated for such examinations.
• Protest leaders said sit-in agitations are planned if the order is not rolled back, even as Supreme Court rulings characterize lawyers’ strikes as illegal and harmful to litigants’ access to justice.