On July 17, the Allahabad High Court issued a directive to the forensic science laboratory in Lucknow to scrutinize the CCTV footage related to an incident from last year in Barabanki [State v Ritesh Mishra & Ors]. In this incident, certain advocates were accused of misbehaving with a woman judge, Civil Judge Arpita Sahu, which led to a reference being made to the High Court under Section 15(2) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
Upon reviewing the available CCTV footage, the court bench, comprising Justice Sangeeta Chandra and Justice Narendra Kumar Johari, raised concerns about potential tampering or deletion of the footage. They found it puzzling that only a few hours of footage on specific days could be retrieved, despite no previous reports of technical faults or camera repairs. This raised doubts in the court's mind about the integrity of the CCTV footage.
In light of these suspicions, the High Court ordered the Senior Registrar to send the CCTV footage provided by the Additional District Judge-I, Barabanki, to the forensic laboratory in Lucknow for a thorough examination. The court specifically requested the laboratory director to focus on identifying any potential tampering or deletion issues within the footage. The forensic laboratory is expected to submit a detailed report on their findings by the next hearing date, which is scheduled for August 4.
During the investigation, it was revealed that out of the 32 CCTV cameras installed in the court campus, only 14 were operational, while the rest were non-functional. Additionally, the Court noticed irregularities in the operational timings of the cameras on specific dates, raising further suspicions about the footage's integrity.
The advocates representing the accused individuals presented their case during the proceedings on July 17. The matter remains under examination until the next hearing in August.
Click Here to: Download/View Related File
TAGS: Allahabad High Court forensic examination CCTV footage advocates misbehaving woman judge Barabanki tampering suspicions Contempt of Courts Act 1971 next date of hearing operational cameras non-operational cameras.
