VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has appointed Advocate MRK Chakravarthy as an Advocate Commissioner to inspect the installation and verify functionality of CCTV cameras in police stations in the State.
This follows a certification by DSPs claiming that all police stations are equipped with CCTV cameras covering their entire premises as per the Supreme Court directives. The court, expressing doubts about the claims, ordered a field-level inspection to ascertain the facts.
The division bench, comprising Justices R Raghunandan Rao and Jagadam Sumathi, directed the Advocate Commissioner to visit six police stations specified by the petitioner, and submit a detailed report.
The report must address key questions, including the number of CCTV cameras installed, whether they are operational, whether footage is stored in storage devices, and whether the cameras cover the entire station premises.
The court emphasised that the inspection should ensure compliance with Supreme Court directives. The court further instructed SPs, Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners, DSPs, and SDPOs of the concerned districts to provide full cooperation to the Advocate Commissioner during the inspection. Additionally, the State government was directed to pay Rs 50,000 to cover the Commissioner’s expenses. The next hearing was scheduled for August 12, 2025.
It may be recalled that in 2019, advocate Thandava Yogesh filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) urging the installation of CCTV cameras in police stations and jails across the State, in line with the Supreme Court orders.
On July 15, 2019, the High Court directed the State to comply with these directives, and warned against negligence in implementation. However, due to the State’s failure to act, Yogesh filed a contempt petition in 2022. Separately, in November 2024, Katari Nagaraju filed a habeas corpus petition alleging that his brother Gopiraju was detained by Machavaram police in Palnadu district.
During recent hearings, the court expressed skepticism about the SDPOs’ certification regarding CCTV installations and instructed the petitioner to suggest specific police stations for inspection, prompting Yogesh to submit a list of 12 stations under various SDPOs.