Should an official police account carry footage that allegedly shows injured arrestees? A PIL against Police Instagram Videos Of Injured Arrestees has led the Punjab and Haryana High Court to ask the Director General of Police, Punjab for a response.
Chandigarh: Taking up a public interest litigation against videos posted on the official Instagram accounts of the Punjab Police and several district units, which allegedly show injured arrestees, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has sought the response of the Director General of Police, Punjab [Nikhil Thamman v. State of Punjab and Others].
The petition, filed by advocate Nikhil Thamman, who practises before the High Court, was heard by a Division Bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor, and adjourned to November 26. No interim order or finding is recorded. The contentions below are the petitioner’s, and the police response is awaited.
Courts have looked at this before
The question of how police use social media to show accused persons has been before courts earlier. In a ruling reported in June 2025, Justice Kuldeep Tiwari of the same High Court, in Prakash Singh Marwah v. Union of India and Others, directed the Director General of Police, Chandigarh to frame guidelines on circulating videos and photographs made by police officials on duty, so as to ensure that the circulation does not cause prejudice to the investigating agency, the victim or the accused. The instructions were to be issued within three months.
On August 18, 2026, a Supreme Court Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana issued notice on a separate petition by Hemendra Patel seeking removal of police social media posts that reveal the faces or identities of accused persons or show them being treated in a dehumanising manner. The Court sought responses from the Union, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, all States and Union Territories, Meta and X.
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The videos, as the petitioner describes them
The petition names the Instagram accounts of the Punjab Police and its Ludhiana Rural, SAS Nagar, Patiala, Moga, Fazilka, Jalandhar, Faridkot and Ferozepur units. According to the petitioner, the videos on them show arrested persons with visible injuries, incapacitation, difficulty walking or other humiliating physical conditions.
His argument is that the way such videos are recorded, edited, presented and shared can suggest that violence, custodial abuse or extra-legal punishment is acceptable. He contends that this creates public fear, normalises unconstitutional practices and undermines public confidence in the criminal justice system, and that the content glorifies physical violence and third-degree methods by the police.
What the PIL asks for
The PIL seeks removal of the impugned videos and similar content, and an inquiry to fix responsibility for the alleged physical violence and for the recording, editing, approval and publication of the videos, with action against those found responsible. It also asks for statewide directions barring the use of official Punjab Police social media to glorify or endorse public humiliation of arrested persons or other extra-legal policing.
Awaiting the DGP
Neither the Punjab Police nor the DGP has yet placed a position before the Court on the petition. The DGP’s response is due when the matter is listed on November 26. Until then, the allegations about the videos remain the petitioner’s contentions, and the Court has expressed no view on them.
Case Title: Nikhil Thamman v. State of Punjab and Others (PIL)
Bench: Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor, Punjab and Haryana High Court
Next Date: November 26, 2026