Pulling up the police over a non-functional CCTV system at a police station during power outages, the Karnataka High Court directed the State government to conduct a comprehensive audit of CCTV systems and backup power supply infrastructure at all police stations across the State.
The court also directed the Police Computer Wing to design and implement a centralised State-level information technology system for real-time monitoring of CCTV operations across all police stations.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj issued the directions after observing that CCTV cameras at the Whitefield police station in Bengaluru was non-functional for a certain period during 2024, as the system lacked a working Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) apparatus for about 11 months.
The issue came to light during the hearing of a petition filed by Shailaja, who challenged an order of the State Information Commission refusing to direct the police to furnish CCTV footage to substantiate her claim regarding the conduct of police officials when she visited the station in connection with her complaint.
Non-functioning UPS
Referring to the police’s claim that CCTV footage of the incident was not available due to a non-functioning UPS system, the court said installation of CCTV cameras in police stations across the country is not a mere formality, but a directive from the Supreme Court.
“The very purpose of installing CCTV cameras in a police station is defeated if the system is allowed to remain non-functional during power outages,” the court observed, questioning how the Station House Officer could have remained a passive spectator while the UPS system lay defective for almost a year.
The court termed as “disturbing” the claim made by the police in their recent report that no police station has a non-functional UPS system, indicating that all CCTVs are working 24/7 throughout the year.
The court directed the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) and the Director General and Inspector General of Police to personally examine the functioning of CCTV and UPS systems across the State, and specifically examine the issue at the Whitefield police station.
The audit, the court said, should examine everything from the number and location of cameras to their working condition, periodic maintenance, date of installation, technical specifications, recording device capacity, storage period for footage, whether separate UPS systems have been provided for CCTV systems, their capacity, whether they are sufficient to keep all cameras operational during power failures, and the actual backup time available.
The court noted from the report that while most police stations had approximately four CCTV cameras, the capacity of the UPS provided varied considerably — with some stations having units of only 0.5 kVA or 1 kVA of power supply, while others had capacities up to 600 kVA — raising serious concerns about the adequacy of backup infrastructure.
Online dashboard
On the proposed online system to monitor CCTV functioning in real-time, the court said it should include a dashboard showing every police station and the status of each camera, automatic alerts whenever equipment stops functioning or goes offline, monitoring of UPS battery health and backup time, complete digital logs of failures or repairs, and automatic escalation of unresolved faults to supervisory officers.
Ordering an inquiry into the non-functioning of CCTV cameras at the Whitefield police station in 2024 due to the lack of a UPS system, the court said all records from Bescom should be verified regarding electricity supply to the police station on September 4, 2024, particularly between 11 a.m. and 2.30 p.m., to ascertain if there was an interruption in regular power supply.
