The Delhi high court on Wednesday declined to entertain a petition to direct the Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) to wear body-worn cameras (BWCs) while carrying out crowd-control and protest duties, saying that there was “no grey area” concerning the use of such cameras.
“Why should we direct them to legislate? They have provided measures by incorporating a statutory provision, as and when the legislature had some intention… why do you feel that it is necessary to have some judicial order? We are not concerned about the Delhi police only, but we are concerned with the entire policing. “This is essential, since the allegations keep surfacing. there is an allegation of excessive force used by police or protestors, running and violence on their end While the protest takes place.
Raghav, who claimed to have attended protests at Jantar Mantar and had first-hand experience of the use of force by Delhi Police and the RAF, through her lawyer Akhil Sibal, contended that BWCs were being used sporadically and thus there was a need for a comprehensive framework in view of various protests that had happened since 2020, including the recent protests by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP). We need a system so that the allegations are not left to private persons who are videographing,” Sibal added.
The court said that issuing a judicial order in this regard would have far-reaching effects. It cannot be said that it is a grey area that you want us to deal with. It will have far-reaching…,” the court said. This was after Centre’s lawyer, additional solicitor general Chetan Sharma, along with standing counsel Ashish Dixit, told the court that a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was already in place for protests at Jantar Mantar, including provisions for videography. Such direction, Sibal said, would fix accountability.
