Overview

• Acting suo motu, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta sought detailed disclosures after a report cited roughly 11 custodial deaths this year in Rajasthan, seven in the Udaipur division, with police frequently claiming CCTV was unavailable.
• The state must answer 12 questions within two weeks in a filing supported by the Director General of Police, with the next hearing scheduled for October 14.
• The questionnaire demands data on camera counts and placement, technical specifications, storage and retention practices, maintenance and escalation processes, regular audits and log integrity checks, network connectivity and centralized dashboards, SOPs and training, and surprise inspections with forensic tamper validation.
• The bench noted that non-functioning cameras and failure to preserve recordings appear to breach directions issued in Paramvir Singh Saini v. Baljit Singh mandating comprehensive CCTV coverage and data protection.
• The court discussed creating an automated centralized control room, potentially with IIT assistance, to flag downtime and tampering and considered independent inspections; AAG Shiv Mangal Sharma was directed to take instructions as amicus Siddharth Dave assists, with the matter linked to the pending 2021 case.