Stalled CCTV cameras in Karnataka police stations: High Court orders full audit

The Karnataka High Court on August 13 directed the state Home Department to conduct a detailed statewide audit of CCTV systems and power backup in all police stations. Justice Suraj Govindaraj said the government’s argument that cameras at a Bengaluru police station were non-functional due to power failure made a "mockery" of the Supreme Court’s 2020 order to install 24×7 working cameras. The court also ordered designing of a state-level IT system to monitor CCTV functionality in real time.

The directive came in a case where a woman alleged a police officer used third-degree methods on her at Whitefield police station on September 4, 2024. The state admitted the UPS at that station had been non-functional for nearly 1.5 years. The court observed that if the CCTV could not record due to power loss, the very purpose of surveillance, transparency and evidence preservation was defeated. The next hearing is expected to set a compliance deadline.