<p>The <span class="key-term" data-definition="Supreme Court of India — the apex judicial body in India, whose decisions shape law and policy (GS2: Polity)">Supreme Court</span> has taken a suo motu (on its own motion) initiative to address the lack of functional <span class="key-term" data-definition="CCTV — Closed‑Circuit Television cameras used for surveillance; in policing, they record interactions and deter misconduct (GS2: Polity)">CCTV</span> installations in police stations across the country. A bench comprising <strong>Justice Vikram Nath</strong> and <strong>Justice Sandeep Mehta</strong> directed the personal presence of the <span class="key-term" data-definition="Union Home Secretary — senior bureaucrat heading the Ministry of Home Affairs, responsible for internal security and police affairs (GS2: Polity)">Union Home Secretary</span> at the next hearing to facilitate uniform implementation of a live‑monitoring system, popularly termed the “Kerala Model”.</p> <h3>Key Developments</h3> <ul> <li>The Court ordered the Union Home Secretary to appear in person for the next hearing to assist in formulating actionable directions.</li> <li>Justice Nath questioned why other states do not emulate Kerala’s real‑time dashboard system, which allows police officers to monitor stations via mobile phones.</li> <li>Amicus curiae <span class="key-term" data-definition="Amicus curiae — ‘friend of the court’; a neutral expert appointed to assist the court with technical or factual information (GS2: Polity)">Sidharth Dave</span> reported that while most states have installed cameras, only <span class="key-term" data-definition="Kerala Model — a state‑level framework where CCTV feeds are streamed live to a centralized dashboard accessible on mobile devices (GS2: Polity)">Kerala</span>, <span class="key-term" data-definition="Rajasthan — Indian state; highlighted for its partial compliance (GS2: Polity)">Rajasthan</span> and <span class="key-term" data-definition="Madhya Pradesh — Indian state; noted for good compliance (GS2: Polity)">Madhya Pradesh</span> have functional dashboards.</li> <li>Justice Mehta raised concerns about security and financial implications of replacing cameras allegedly installed by a Pak‑linked spy network.</li> <li>The Court reiterated earlier directives from <span class="key-term" data-definition="Paramvir Singh Saini v. Baljit Singh (2020) — Supreme Court case mandating CCTV installation in all police stations (GS2: Polity)">Paramvir Singh Saini v. Baljit Singh</span> and noted persistent non‑compliance.</li> </ul> <h3>Important Facts</h3> <p>• The suo motu case was initiated on <strong>4 September 2025</strong> after a Dainik Bhaskar report on custodial deaths.<br> • Earlier, the Court had ordered all states and UTs to install CCTV in every police station (December 2020).<br> • Queries were sent to Rajasthan on <strong>26 September 2025</strong> regarding audits, footage preservation, and surprise inspections.<br> • Kerala’s d