Bombay HC Directs DGP to Survey CCTV Functionality at All Maharashtra Police Stations After Footage of Alleged Incident Goes Missing

The Bombay High Court has ordered the Director General of Police to conduct a state-wide fact-finding exercise on CCTV camera functionality and data retention at all police stations, after footage for March 2025 proved unavailable.

A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and Justice Gautam A. Ankhad, on 15 July 2026 directed the Director General of Police, Maharashtra to initiate a fact-finding exercise covering every police station in the State. The exercise must assess the operational status of CCTV cameras and the period for which data is being retained on connected hard disks. The direction arose from a writ petition filed by Prashant Satyawan Kokane, appearing in person, after he found that CCTV footage of an alleged incident between 17 March 2025 and 20 March 2025 at Ghatkopar Police Station was no longer available. The bench's concern was heightened because the State had given formal undertakings in 2022 to comply with the Supreme Court's detailed directions on police station CCTV installation and data preservation.

The Petition and the Missing Footage

Kokane filed Writ Petition No. 1196 of 2026 before the Bombay High Court's Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction. He alleged an incident at or connected with Ghatkopar Police Station, Mumbai, during the period 17 March 2025 to 20 March 2025. Within a month of that alleged occurrence, on 15 April 2025, he made a written application in English to the Senior Police Inspector of Ghatkopar Police Station, requesting preservation of CCTV footage for that period. That letter was received at the police station's Inward Department on 15 April 2025 at 12.40 hours.

The bench had earlier, by its order dated 22 June 2026, directed Ghatkopar Police Station to ensure the CCTV footage for that period was preserved. On 15 July 2026, the Additional Public Prosecutor placed before the court a written communication dated 15 July 2025 signed by Vitthal Ardekar, Senior Police Inspector, Ghatkopar Police Station. That communication stated that CCTV footage is preserved for only six months. Since the incident was of March 2025, the footage was no longer available by the time the matter came up.

The bench recorded that finding squarely. Despite Kokane's timely written request in April 2025 and despite the court's own direction in June 2026, the footage had not survived.

The 2022 Undertakings and the Supreme Court's Directions

The bench placed the missing footage against a broader backdrop of prior court orders and State commitments. Kokane drew attention to the order dated 21 March 2022 passed by this court in Writ Petition No. 692 of 2022 (Somnath Laxman Giri and Anr. v. State of Maharashtra and Ors.). In that matter, an additional affidavit dated 22 March 2022 was filed by the Chief Secretary of the State of Maharashtra.

The Chief Secretary's affidavit committed the State to undertaking the exercise of updating and “topping up” the CCTV system to ensure cameras are placed at each of the locations specified in paragraph 16 of the Supreme Court's judgment in Paramvir Singh Saini v. Baljit Singh, (2021) 1 SCC 184. That paragraph directed State and Union Territory governments to install CCTV cameras at all entry and exit points, main gates, lock-ups, corridors, lobbies, reception areas, verandahs, outhouses, the Inspector's room, the Sub-Inspector's room, areas outside lock-up rooms, the station hall, the front of the police station compound, outside washrooms and toilets, the Duty Officer's room, and the back of the police station.

The 2022 undertakings recorded in the Somnath Laxman Giri order went further. The State committed to ensuring that recording and data back-up would be kept for 18 months rather than 12 months, to exploring the supply of generators where electricity supply is irregular, and to putting up large posters at police stations as directed by the Supreme Court. Those statements were accepted by the court as undertakings made to it, and the State was directed to ensure strict compliance.

The bench observed on 15 July 2026 that it was “aware of the several orders passed by this Court” calling upon the State to ensure proper functioning of CCTV cameras and adequate hard disk capacities for data preservation of at least one year. Yet Ghatkopar Police Station reported to the court that footage cannot be preserved beyond six months and was not available.

Petitioner Permitted to Appear Without Legal Aid

A procedural question arose about Kokane's right to address the court in person. Pursuant to the earlier order of 22 June 2026, a committee of learned Registrars had considered whether to issue him a certificate of competency to appear and address the court. The committee declined to issue that certificate.

The bench nonetheless permitted Kokane to address it in Marathi. After hearing him, the bench formed the opinion that he had studied his case well, that his demeanour before the forum was good, and that he had also studied reported judgments, though limited to his own case. On that basis, the bench permitted him to appear in person and held that there was no necessity to appoint an advocate through Legal Aid.

Fact-Finding Directed: Scope and Timeline

The bench directed the Director General of Police to initiate a fact-finding exercise to take an overall view of all police stations in Maharashtra. The exercise must be conducted in the light of the Supreme Court's judgment in Paramvir Singh Saini and must result in a report addressing two specific aspects: the functionality of CCTV cameras at each police station, and the period for which data is being preserved on the hard disks connected with those cameras.

The report must also address what steps have been taken pursuant to this court's directions in the Somnath Laxman Giri & Anr. order dated 21 March 2022. Specifically, the DGP must explain why Ghatkopar Police Station reported to the court that CCTV footage cannot be preserved after six months and is not available for the March 2025 period, despite the State's 2022 undertaking to extend retention to 18 months.

The report is to be tendered to the court on 10 August 2026.

Order

The petition is listed on 10 August 2026 in the urgent admissions category. The Director General of Police, Maharashtra is directed to submit the fact-finding report on CCTV functionality and data retention across all Maharashtra police stations by that date, along with an explanation as to why the Ghatkopar Police Station footage for March 2025 was not preserved consistent with the State's 2022 undertakings and the Supreme Court's directions in Paramvir Singh Saini v. Baljit Singh.