Ayodhya police lockup CCTV footage missing: Allahabad HC demands answers from SSP
The Allahabad High Court has ordered the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Ayodhya to file a personal affidavit within a week explaining why Ayodhya police lockup CCTV footage from February 23, 2026, was not preserved and handed over to an applicant (source). The division bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Amitabh Kumar Rai delivered the directive on October 22 while hearing a petition filed by Praveen Kumar Dubey, who originally sought the records through a Right to Information application filed on May 9 (source).
For residents and observers across Uttar Pradesh, accountability inside police lockups remains a persistent concern. Time and again, judicial interventions expose gaps in how local authorities handle custodial transparency. This latest ruling underscores that administrative slip-ups or resource limits cannot bypass apex court mandates on electronic surveillance preservation.
The RTI Trail and Institutional Excuses
The petitioner’s quest for accountability met standard bureaucratic resistance early on. After the public information officer initially denied the records, Dubey pursued first and second appeals. Local law enforcement eventually fell back on a familiar defense: they claimed the mandated 90-day retention period for the video files had expired (source).
The high court rejected this logic outright. The judges noted that accepting expired retention periods as a default excuse renders higher appellate reviews meaningless. If electronic logs vanish before a court can review them, the right to information and judicial oversight collapse.
- Petitioner Praveen Kumar Dubey filed an RTI on May 9, 2026, requesting the footage.
- Authorities argued that the 90-day retention window had lapsed.
- The court stressed that infrastructure shortages do not excuse non-compliance with Supreme Court directives.
This case mirrors broader friction points across UP institutions. Citizens often rely on legal safeguards like the Allahabad High Court Raps UP Police Over Unlawful Detention, Demands Better Training to check administrative overreach. When transparency tools fail, public trust in local policing erodes quickly. At the same time, state departments like those managing UP Board Counselling Initiative Seeks to Curb Cheating and Exam Stress face parallel demands for strict procedural order.
Why it matters
Transparent policing protects both citizens and the state. Supreme Court guidelines mandating CCTV cameras in police stations were designed to prevent custodial abuses and resolve disputes without guesswork. When police stations fail to preserve these digital records, it harms accountability.
Whether tracking SC quota in medical colleges: Allahabad HC summons three UP officials or monitoring local administrative compliance, judicial oversight keeps the executive branch honest. Lucknow residents and the wider UP diaspora watch these proceedings closely because systemic reform depends on strict enforcement of court orders.
Judicial insistence on personal accountability from senior police leadership sends a strong signal that missing digital evidence will trigger serious legal consequences.
Looking Ahead
The Ayodhya SSP must now justify the oversight before the high court. Beyond this specific case, local police units across the state may need to audit their data storage protocols to ensure compliance with mandatory retention rules.
Other recent legal battles, such as the disputes surrounding Allahabad HC screening exam Ruling Changes Reservation Rules in UP Recruitment and investigations like the Meerut Police Extortion Scandal Shocks UP Business Community, demonstrate that the judiciary remains active in reviewing state administrative actions. Meanwhile, initiatives like Ram temple prasad safety gets top FSSAI rating in Ayodhya show how public institutions are scrutinized on multiple fronts.
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