Thousands of students protesting at Delhi's Jantar Mantar are now being monitored not only by police personnel but also by AI-powered surveillance systems, facial recognition technology, body-worn cameras and mobile surveillance vans.
The use of these technologies has sparked a legal battle in the Delhi High Court and reignited a wider debate over privacy, civil liberties and the limits of police surveillance in public spaces.
While Delhi Police says the technology is being used to maintain law and order and identify known criminals, protesters and digital rights groups argue that continuous monitoring could infringe on the right to privacy and discourage peaceful assembly.
Here's what we know.
Why Is Delhi Police's Surveillance Under Scrutiny?
The issue is currently before the Delhi High Court after former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL).
The petition alleges that since 20 June, Delhi Police has maintained continuous surveillance at Jantar Mantar through a permanent observation tower, photographers, videographers and AI-enabled monitoring equipment.
According to the plea, protesters were filmed not only during demonstrations but also while eating, resting and receiving medical assistance. It also alleges that police personnel threatened to send photographs and videos of student protesters to their parents, guardians and educational institutions.
The petition further alleges that women protesters continued to be photographed and filmed even after being soaked in rain during heavy showers.
Visuals from the protest site have also shown some Delhi Police personnel wearing Meta smart glasses while on duty. Delhi Police has not publicly explained how the devices were being used.
Appearing before the Delhi High Court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta rejected the allegation that Delhi Police was conducting surveillance.
He argued that photography and videography at Jantar Mantar are routine policing measures carried out to maintain law and order and ensure public safety, adding that protesters themselves frequently record and publish videos from the site. He described the petition as "luxury litigation".
The High Court has asked whether Delhi Police has a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) governing policing at protest sites and has listed the matter for further hearing.
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What Surveillance Technology Is Delhi Police Using?
Delhi Police has significantly expanded its AI-powered surveillance infrastructure in recent years.
The system includes:
AI-enabled CCTV cameras
Facial recognition technology (FRT)
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR)
Crowd density monitoring
Hand gesture recognition
Body-worn cameras
Mobile surveillance vans
Mobile command-and-control vehicles
Meta smart glasses worn by some police personnel
One of the technologies deployed at the protest is the Ikshana mobile surveillance vehicle, introduced ahead of the G20 Summit in 2023.
The vehicle is equipped with eight cameras providing a 360-degree field of view and uses AI-assisted facial recognition software to analyse live video feeds.
According to a senior Delhi Police officer quoted by The Indian Express, the software compares faces captured on CCTV with police databases to identify known criminals who may be present at the protest.
Following clashes during the protest march, Delhi Police also said it was using footage from AI-enabled cameras to identify people allegedly involved in violence before cross-checking them against criminal databases. Police said ten FIRs had been registered across multiple police stations in connection with the clashes.
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Why Are Protesters Concerned?
Several students participating in the protest told The Indian Express that the constant monitoring had made them uncomfortable, prompting many to cover their faces.
Some said they feared being profiled because they were preparing for competitive examinations or government jobs. Others said they worried that footage of them protesting could reach their families or educational institutions.
Another concern raised is the lack of clarity over how long the recorded footage may be stored.
According to The Indian Express, a senior police officer said there are no fixed data-retention guidelines and recordings may be retained if they are required for future investigations.
How Extensive Is Delhi Police's AI Surveillance Network?
Delhi Police operates one of India's largest AI-enabled public surveillance systems.
According to official information and reports cited by the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF):
Around 25,000 CCTV cameras are integrated into the network.
More than 15,000 existing cameras have already been connected.
The latest phase added 2,100 AI-enabled cameras, with plans for further expansion.
The network integrates cameras from Delhi Police, the Safe City Project, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and Indian Railways.
Video feeds are monitored through the Integrated Command, Control, Communication and Computer Centre (C4I) at Delhi Police Headquarters.
The AI platform supports facial detection, facial recognition, crowd density analysis, hand gesture recognition and automatic number plate recognition.
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How Does Facial Recognition Work?
Facial recognition technology analyses a person's facial features from photographs or live video and converts them into a digital biometric template.
The software compares that template with images stored in police databases. If the similarity score crosses a predefined threshold, the system flags a potential match for human verification.
In response to a Right to Information (RTI) application in 2022, Delhi Police said an 80% similarity score is treated as a positive facial recognition match.
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Who Is Included In The Facial Recognition Database?
The exact size of Delhi Police's facial recognition database remains unclear.
Different official statements over the years have referred to databases containing between 20,000 and 350,000 criminal records.
A 2019 investigation by The Indian Express reported that Delhi Police operated multiple facial recognition databases, including one containing more than 150,000 history-sheeters, another with suspected terrorists and a third reportedly built using images collected from protest footage.
Civil liberties organisations have questioned how these databases are created, maintained and audited.
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Is Facial Recognition Legal In India?
India currently has no dedicated law regulating facial recognition technology.
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) establishes a general framework for personal data protection but does not specifically regulate biometric surveillance in public spaces. The law also provides broad exemptions allowing government agencies to process personal data for functions authorised by law and in matters concerning sovereignty, integrity and national security.
As a result, there are limited statutory safeguards governing how facial recognition data collected in public spaces is stored, used or challenged.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has previously told Parliament that Delhi Police's facial recognition programme operates under a Delhi Police order issued on 9 June 2022, authorising the use of facial recognition technology to identify "suspected individuals or known criminals".
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What Has The Supreme Court Said About Privacy?
The principal constitutional safeguard comes from the Supreme Court's landmark judgment in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v Union of India (2017), which recognised privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The court held that any restriction on the right to privacy must:
Have a legal basis.
Pursue a legitimate state objective.
Be proportionate.
Use the least restrictive means available.
The Supreme Court had earlier ruled in Malak Singh v State of Punjab & Haryana that police surveillance cannot be arbitrary, cannot target people outside legally recognised categories and cannot be used to suppress fundamental freedoms.
Digital rights organisations, including the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), argue that Delhi Police introduced facial recognition technology without conducting a Privacy Impact Assessment. According to the organisation, no such assessment has been carried out for the Safe City Project either.
Privacy advocates say the absence of a dedicated legal framework governing facial recognition raises questions about transparency, accountability and the protection of citizens' biometric data.
How Do Other Countries Regulate Facial Recognition?
Countries have adopted different approaches to facial recognition technology.
The European Union's AI Act, which came into force in February 2025, generally prohibits the use of live facial recognition by law enforcement in public spaces. The law allows limited exceptions, including locating abducted children, finding missing persons and preventing imminent terrorist attacks.
Sweden permits real-time facial recognition only for serious crimes, terrorism investigations and missing persons cases, subject to prior prosecutorial approval and oversight.
In the United States, regulation varies across states and cities. Some jurisdictions have prohibited police use of facial recognition technology, while others permit its use under judicial or legislative oversight.
The United Kingdom is expanding the use of live facial recognition by police forces, while China operates one of the world's largest facial recognition surveillance systems.
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TL;DR | News At A Glance
Delhi Police is using AI-assisted facial recognition technology during the ongoing Jantar Mantar protest.
Police have also deployed AI surveillance vans, body-worn cameras and some personnel have been seen wearing Meta smart glasses.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Delhi High Court alleges the surveillance violates protesters' privacy and fundamental rights.
Delhi Police says the technology is being used only to maintain law and order and identify known criminals.
India currently has no dedicated law regulating facial recognition technology in public spaces.
