Preserve CCTV feed, medical records of undertrial who died in custody, says Supreme Court

On October 13, a Supreme Court division bench of Justices M M Sundresh and V M Pancholi, issued notices to the Maharashtra government and others. “In the meantime, the CCTV footage and medical documents concerning the case shall not be tampered with or destroyed,” the bench said.

The SLP, filed by the mother through lawyers Payoshi Roy and Siddhartha, said timely preservation and production of CCTV footage and other documents in custodial death cases was necessary for compliance with fundamental rights.

The man was arrested on September 16, 2024, in connection with a complaint by a 16-year-old girl’s family alleging stalking and sexual harassment by the accused. A special court remanded the man in police custody for two days, and he was produced before the court again on September 18. He did not complain of any ill-treatment and was sent to two more days of police custody.

The mother’s plea in the HC said when he was again produced before the court on September 20, the family saw him scared, limping and unable to walk. When his brothers asked him if he had been tortured by police, he refused to speak, the plea read. He was sent to Arthur Road Jail that day, after the court sent him to judicial custody. The plea referred to a Proforma for Health Screening of Prisoners on Admission to Jail, without a date and stamp, which noted no injuries on the man’s body but recorded a history of drug consumption. On September 22, the family received a call from jail that the 22-year-old was unwell and had been shifted to J J Hospital. But he was taken back.

He was again taken to J J Hospital on September 23. The next day, he was declared dead.