Delhi High Court Orders Preservation of CCTV Footage in Protest Force Case
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Central government and the Delhi Police on petitions alleging excessive use of force against participants in a march to Parliament on July 20. The protest was organised against alleged irregularities in the NEET examination.
A bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia directed the authorities to preserve all relevant records related to the police action, including CCTV camera footage and any videography. The court issued a notice on two public interest litigations and gave the respondents four weeks to file counter affidavits.
“Let a counter affidavit be filed on behalf of the respondents within four weeks,” the court ordered. “In the meantime, we direct that the relevant record in relation to the incident as mentioned in the writ petitions, including the CCTV footage and videography, shall be preserved as per the SOP of the Delhi Police or the Union of India.”
The next hearing is scheduled for September 11.
Senior advocates N. Hariharan, Vikas Singh, and Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, argued that police used disproportionate force against protesters, including women and children. They sought an inquiry into the incident, stating that the protesters were exercising their fundamental right to peaceful assembly.
Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the authorities, contended that the petitions were based on social media posts and were not maintainable. The court did not pass any interim order on the request for a stay on further action.
