JUDGMENT
IA No. 107102/2023 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES
Diary No(s). 30807/2024 (II-B)
IA No. 149602/2024 - APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION IA No. 149601/2024 - APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION IA No. 149596/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T. Diary No(s). 33069/2024 (II-B)
Diary No(s). 58490/2024 (II-B)
IA No. 291193/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T. Date : 29-01-2026 These matters were called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIKRAM NATH HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANDEEP MEHTA By Courts Motion
Amicus Curiae Mr. Siddhartha Dave, Sr. Advocate Mr. Jemtiben Ao, Adv.
Ms. Gayathri Venugopal, Adv.
For Petitioner(s) :
Mr. Anil Kumar, AOR
Mr. Pradeep Kumar Mittal, Adv.
Mr. Manu, Adv.
Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Amit Kumar Verma, Adv.
Mr. Vikrant Rana, Adv.
Mr. Vikas Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Varinder Kumar Sharma, AOR
Ms. Ranjeeta Rohatgi, AOR
Mr. Wattan Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Yuvraj Kashyap, Adv.
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Mr. Bankey Bihari, AOR Mr. Ganesh Khanna, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Bhushan, AOR Mr. Gautam Awasthi, AOR Mr. Ashish Batra, AOR For Respondent(s) :
Mr. R.Venkataramani, Attorney General (NP) Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General (NP) Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Mr. Chinmayee Chandra, Adv.
Mr. Rajat Nair, Adv.
Ms. Sonali Jain, Adv.
Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Chitvan Singhal, Adv.
Mr. Kartkay Aggarwal, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Kumar Pandey, Adv. Mr. Annam Venkatesh, Adv.
Ms. Ameyavikrama Thanvi, Adv. Mr. R. Venkatramani, Attorney General (NP) Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General (NP) Mr. Rajkumar Bhaskar Thakare, A.S.G. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Chinmayee Chandra, Adv. Mr. Rajat Nair, Adv.
Ms. Sonali Jain, Adv.
Mr. Chitvan Singhal, Adv.
Mr. Kartikay Aggarwal, Adv. Mr. Abhishek Kumar Pandey, Adv. Mr. Aman Mehta, Adv.
Ms. Ameyavikrama Thanvi, Adv. Mr. Rohit Khare, Adv. Mr. Rajan Kumar Chourasia, Adv. Mr. Zoheb Hossain, Adv. Mr. A.k.sharma (aor), Adv. Mr. R Venkataramani, Attorney General (NP) Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General (NP) Mr. Chinmayee Chandra, Adv.
Mr. Rajat Nair, Adv.
Mr. Chitvan Singhal, Adv.
Ms. Sonali Jain, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Kumar Pandey, Adv. Mr. Kartikay Aggarwal, Adv.
Ms. Ameyavikrama Thanvi, Adv. Mr. Raman Yadav, Adv.
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Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR Mr. Aman Mehta, Adv. Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General (NP) Mr. P. V. Yogeswaran, AOR
Ms. Shailja Singh, Adv.
Mr. Sharan Dev Singh Thakur, Sr. A.A.G. Ms. Ruchira Goel, AOR
Ms. Ritika Rao, Adv.
Mr. Shekhar Raj Sharma, A.A.G. Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR
Ms. Nidhi Narwal, Adv.
Ms. Srishti Jain, Adv.
Mr. Abhay Nair, Adv.
Mr. Sarthak Srivastava, Adv. Mr. Mayur Goyal, Adv.
Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Ms. Abhinandini Sharma, Adv. Ms. Saubhagya Sundriyal, Adv. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR
Mr. V V V M B N S Pattabhiram, D.A.G. Mr. Sarthak Raizada, Ga, Adv. Mr. Yashraj Singh Bundela, AOR Mrs. Pratima Singh, Adv.
Mr. Arpit Garg, Adv.
Ms. Sakshi, Adv.
Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR
Ms. Jaspreet Gogia, AOR
Mr. Guntur Pramod Kumar, AOR Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shreeyash Uday Lalit, Adv. Ms. Disha Singh, AOR
Ms. Eliza Bar, Adv.
Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR
Mr. Divyansh Mishra, Adv. Mr. Kumar Saurav, Adv. Mr. Nikunj Dayal, AOR Mr. Sumeer Sodhi, AOR
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Dr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR Mr. Ravindra Lokhande, Adv. Ms. Vidyottma Jha, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Mr. Prashant Bhagwati, Adv. Mr. Nimesh Bhatt, Adv. Mr. Divyanshu Kumar Srivastava, AOR Mr. Shivam Nagpal, Adv.
Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR Mr. Kumar Anurag Singh, Adv. Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR Mr. Shwetank Singh, Adv. Ms. Pooja Singh, Adv. Mr. Utkarsh Anand, Adv. Mr. Sanchit Garga, AOR Mr. Kunal Rana, Adv. Mr. Shashwat Jaiswal, Adv. Mr. C. K. Sasi, AOR Dr. K.K Geetha, Adv. Ms. Meena K Poulose, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Shrirang B. Varma, Adv. Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv. Mr. Sourav Singh, Adv. Mr. Aditya Krishna, Adv. Mr. Adarsh Dubey, Adv. Ms. Chitransha Singh Sikarwar, Adv. Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv. Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv. Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Mr. Upendra Mishra, Adv. Mr. P.S. Negi, Adv. Mr. T.K. Nayak, Adv. Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv.
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Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv. Ms. Yanmi Phazang, Adv. Mr. Shovan Mishra, AOR Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR Mr. Rahul Kumar, Adv. Mr. Aakash Thakur, Adv. Ms. Devina Sehgal, AOR Mr. Srikanth Varma Mudunuru, Adv. Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR
Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Akshat Kumar, AOR
Ms. Anubha Dhulia, Adv. Mr. Kunal Mimani, AOR
Mr. Parag Chaturvedi, Adv. Mr. Mranal Parajapati Adv. Ms. G. Indira, AOR
Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv.
Mr. Mrinal Ekar Mazumdar, Adv. Mr. Ankit Raj, Adv.
Mr. Shashwat Parihar, Adv. Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv. Mr. Tadimalla Bhaskar Gowtham, Adv. Ms. Indira Bhakar, Adv.
Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Adv. Mr. Yogesh Vats, Adv.
Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv. Ms. Priyadarshini Priya, Adv. Mr. Santosh Ramdurg, Adv. Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR Mr. Aravindh S., AOR
Ms. Anika Bansal, Adv.
Ms. Jyotika Sharma, Adv. Mr. Abhay Anil Anturkar, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Tank, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Mehrotra, Adv. Ms. Surbhi Kapoor, AOR Mr. Bhagwant Deshpande, Adv. Ms. Subhi Pastor, Adv.
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Mr. Mrigank Prabhakar, AOR Ms. Astha Singh, Adv. Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, AOR Mr. Vivek Sharma, AOR Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, Adv. Ms. Patil Rekha Chandra Gouda, AOR Mr. Jadhav Vishal, Adv.
Mr. Vishal Mv, Adv.
Mr. Prashant Singh, AOR
Mrs. Prerna Dhall, Adv.
Mr. Ambuj Swaroop, Adv.
Mr. Kapil Katare, Adv.
Ms. Rajnandani Kumari, Adv. Ms. Pallavi Langar, AOR
Mr. Rajiv Shankar Dwivedi, Adv. Mr. Sujeet Kumar Chaubey, Adv. Mr. Ram Narayan Mohanty, Adv. Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Aggg UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
SUO MOTO WRIT PETITION(CIVIL) No(s). 7/2025 SLP(Crl.) No. 3543 of 2020; Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 10 of 2021; Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 79 of 2021; Contempt Petition
(C) No. 731 of 2022 in SLP(Crl.) No. 3543 of 2020; Contempt Petition(C) No. 839 of 2023 in SLP(Crl.) No. 3543 of 2020; SLP(Crl.) No. 6773 of 2023; Diary No. 30807 of 2024; and Diary No. 33069 of 2024
1. We have heard the submissions advanced by Mr. Siddhartha Dave, learned Amicus Curiae. He has brought to the notice of this Court that, till date, the Union of India; the States of Chhattisgarh and Gujarat; and the Union Territory of Ladakh have not filed their compliance affidavits in terms of the orders dated 14th October, 2025, notwithstanding the repeated
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opportunity granted by this Court vide order dated 25th November, 2025.
2. On a pertinent query made by this Court to the learned Amicus Curiae with regard to the creation and functioning of centralized dashboards in the States and Union Territories, he has apprised this Court that States such as Kerala, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have already set up, or are in the process of setting up, centralized dashboards for monitoring CCTV infrastructure in the district headquarters.
3. Having heard and considered the submissions advanced by Mr. Siddhartha Dave, learned Amicus Curiae, the learned counsel representing the Union of India as well as the respective States and the Union Territories and upon a prima facie consideration of the issues involved, we are of the view that the matter requires structured institutional deliberation at the highest administrative level.
4. We, therefore, deem it appropriate to direct that the learned Amicus Curiae shall hold consultations and discussions with the Home Secretaries and the Director Generals of Police of all the States and Union Territories, through virtual mode on 21st February, 2026. The learned counsel for the Union of India and the respective States will be at liberty to join the meeting.
5. The purpose of the aforesaid interaction shall be to deliberate upon the feasibility, modalities and implementation framework of the
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issues flagged in our earlier orders, particularly with regard to the creation of a centralized dashboard, standardization of CCTV infrastructure, storage mechanisms, audit protocols, and the role of independent oversight and technological interventions.
6. The Member Secretary, National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), is directed to make all necessary arrangements for the aforesaid meeting to be held at the NALSA Office, B-Block, Ground Floor, Administrative Buildings Complex, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi, 110001, including providing the requisite infrastructure and technical facilities for virtual participation.
7. The learned Amicus Curiae shall, after completing the aforesaid exercise, submit a consolidated report before this Court, indicating the broad consensus, divergences, practical difficulties, and concrete suggestions received from the States and Union Territories.
8. The said report shall be placed on record by the next date of hearing, to facilitate the issuance of pan-India directions in the matter.
9. All the States and Union Territories are directed to extend full cooperation to the learned Amicus Curiae for the effective conduct of the aforesaid deliberations.
10. The Union of India as well as the States of Chhattisgarh and Gujarat and the Union Territory of Ladakh are granted a last and final opportunity to file an appropriate affidavit responding to the
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specific queries raised by this Court vide order dated 14th October, 2025, failing which appropriate orders shall be passed, particularly in view of the fact that an opportunity had already been granted by this Court for the very same purpose vide order dated 25th November, 2025.
11. List the matter on 26th February, 2026 for receiving the report of the learned Amicus Curiae. Contempt Petition (C) Diary No(s). 58490 of 2024
12. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner has filed Interlocutory Application No. 17837 of 2026 seeking withdrawal of the contempt petition, which is allowed.
13. The contempt petition is dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to file afresh, if so required.
(NEETU KHAJURIA)
ASST.REGISTRAR-CUM-PS
(RANJANA SHAILEY)
ASSISTANT REGISTRAR
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