New Delhi: The Supreme Court suggested setting up AI-driven control rooms to monitor CCTV footage from police stations, noting that oversight was the key issue in ensuring compliance with earlier directives.

A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta on Monday heard a suo motu public interest case concerning the lack of functional CCTV cameras in police stations. The court reserved its order for September 26.

Counsel for intervenors attempted to make submissions, but Justice Mehta said such arguments could not be entertained since the intervention application had not been allowed. An advocate assisting the court informed the bench about states that have complied with the court’s earlier order to install CCTV cameras and recording equipment in investigation agency offices.

Justice Mehta observed that compliance on paper was not enough, pointing out the risk of police officers switching off cameras. “Today there is a compliance affidavit, tomorrow police officers switch off the cameras, what happens then?” he asked.

The bench said it was considering a centralised control room system with no human intervention, where any camera shutdown would be flagged instantly. “That is the way this thing can be tackled. There is no other way. Initially, there has to be inspection of every police station...and, we will think of involving some IIT, to provide us a solution so that every CCTV is monitored at a particular place and even the monitoring should not be human, all by AI,” Justice Mehta said.

The court was also informed that the Union government, the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate had not yet complied with the 2020 directive requiring CCTV installation in their offices. The bench refused to hear interventions and reserved its order.

On September 4, the Supreme Court registered the suo motu case after taking cognisance of a media report on custodial deaths. The report noted that 11 people had died in police custody in the past seven to eight months.

The court had first ordered CCTV installation in police stations in 2018 to curb human rights violations. In 2020, it expanded the order, directing the Centre to equip investigating agency offices, including the CBI, the ED and the National Investigation Agency, with CCTV cameras and recording systems.

That order also required states and Union Territories to install cameras covering all entry and exit points, gates, lock-ups, corridors, lobbies, receptions and areas outside lock-up rooms. Systems had to include night vision, audio and video recording, and be capable of storing data for at least one year.