Cuttack: The suo motu PIL registered by Orissa High Court, following the unpleasant treatment meted out to an Indian Army officer and his female friend inside a police station in Bhubaneswar in September, was closed earlier this week when a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh disposed of the writ petition expressing satisfaction over the steps taken by the State government to ensure that such incidents do not recur in future.
Identifying only one administrative failure on the part of the State for not installing CCTV cameras in police stations of the State capital, the High Court was all praise for the prompt steps taken by the State government soon after the intervention of the court.
The government immediately handed over the matter to the crime branch police for investigation, erring cops of Bharatpur police station were suspended, and a Judicial Commission of inquiry headed by a retired judge of the High Court was ordered.
Subsequently, the State government also began installing CCTV cameras in all the police stations and police outposts across the State in a footing manner and achieved satisfactory targets, the HC observed, hoping that the integration of CCTVs to the Central Monitoring System (CMS) of the State police headquarters through Video Management System (VMS), which has also achieved satisfactory target so far; will be over by March 31, 2025.
For this, the High Court recorded its appreciation towards a senior IPS officer. On the High Court’s intervention, the State government also came out with a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the State government employees and police personnel while interacting with or arresting the members of the Armed Forces personnel.
The SOP also spelt out how to handle the problems and grievances of defence personnel approaching the general police at the police stations. Observing that the CCTVs could have easily revealed the truth as to what happened inside the Bharatpur police station on that intervening night of September 14-15, when two individuals went to the police station to lodge an FIR, but were implicated in a criminal case; the HC nevertheless, reiterated that no observation made in the present order should prejudice the investigation being conducted by the crime branch police or the inquiry being held by the Judicial Commission.
The HC further observed that all police stations and police outposts must be fully equipped with CCTV facilities and integrated with police headquarters by March next year, State officials and police personnel shall strictly follow the SOP on arrest and interaction with members of the Armed Forces in police stations, the State government must ensure that the assurances given to the HCin the affidavits are not breached.
