In a scathing rebuke, a division bench of the Allahabad HC remarked that the civil liberties situation in Uttar Pradesh is “shameful, to say the least”, observing that the state police appear to have little regard for citizens’ fundamental rights.
Justices Atul Sreedharan and Achal Sachdev made these sharp observations while granting relief in a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of a resident, Aausad Ahmad, who was unlawfully detained in Bijnor for nearly two days before his arrest was formally recorded. State authorities attempted to defend the absence of crucial station surveillance by citing equipment breakdown caused by rainwater seeping into the camera network. Rejecting the justification, the bench ordered Ahmad’s immediate release, imposed a cost of ₹20,000 on the state government, and directed that an adverse entry be made in the service record of the local Station House Officer.
Bench Rejects Dubious CCTV Excuses
Delivering deeper insight into the routine subversion of due process, the bench noted that infringement of citizens’ rights seems to have become a matter of course for the Uttar Pradesh police force.
The petitioner’s daughter stated that on 5 September, plainclothes personnel and Special Operation Group (SOG) officials forcibly bundled her father away outside the Nangal police station gate, while his formal arrest was shown only on 7 September. When the court ordered the state to produce camera recordings from 1:00 PM on 5 September to 10:00 AM on 7 September, police officials claimed a thunderstorm caused water to trickle down the cables, disabling the apparatus.
Firmly dismissing this defence, the judges observed: “In case after case, whenever CCTV footage is called for by this court, in a majority of cases, it is the same report which comes stating that CCTV footage is not available on account of one reason or the other.”
The bench held that such excuses merely suggest that footage is deliberately withheld to maliciously conceal unlawful confinement, ordering the government to review whether the concerned SHO should continue in her post.
Systemic Surveillance Glitches
The court’s stern censure highlights a persistent institutional pattern where mandates meant to ensure police accountability are routinely bypassed.
Under landmark Supreme Court directives in the Paramvir Singh Saini case, every police station across the country is required to maintain functional, tamper-proof CCTV systems covering all blind spots, lock-ups, and corridors to deter custodial torture and illegal confinement. However, this is far from an isolated incident in the state; the high court noted that widespread failures and unexplained glitches in police station surveillance networks across Uttar Pradesh are already under scrutiny in a separate proceeding where judgment stands reserved.
With law enforcement agencies frequently relying on sudden technical failures whenever allegations of procedural misconduct arise, the judiciary has increasingly expressed alarm over how checks and balances designed to protect vulnerable detainees are systematically neutralised.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
A functioning democracy draws its legitimacy not from the unbridled power of its law enforcement machinery, but from its unwavering respect for constitutional morality, individual dignity, and the rule of law.
When state institutions sworn to protect citizens begin regarding fundamental liberties as dispensable inconveniences, fear displaces trust, and the social contract fractures. Genuine public order cannot thrive on impunity, arbitrary detentions, and convenient cover-ups; it demands empathy, transparency, and deep accountability from every public servant. As a society committed to justice, peace, and human rights, we must insist that technology meant to safeguard civil liberties does not magically malfunction when the truth is demanded. How can we, as conscientious citizens, build systemic pressure to ensure that institutional accountability becomes an unavoidable duty rather than an optional virtue?
