On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the Delhi Police Commissioner to form dedicated teams under the command of a Deputy Superintendent of Police in every police district, tasked with carrying out prompt surveys and inspections of at-risk areas, including peripheral zones, secluded stretches, parks, transit hubs, commercial areas, educational precincts, and other public spaces. A bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran, which assumed jurisdiction on its own initiative over reported sexual assault incidents at Aastha Kunj Park in Swaroop Nagar and aboard a sleeper bus travelling between Greater Noida and Delhi, ordered the Delhi Police commissioner to implement specified interim measures within a four-week timeframe, with the court adding that the assessment would draw upon National Crime Records Bureau data, local intelligence inputs, past and current complaints, prior incidents, and other objective parameters to map locations vulnerable to such offences. The court directed that the appointed groups assess areas where inadequate lighting, absent surveillance, reduced patrol presence, derelict buildings, or weak access controls could heighten vulnerability to criminal activity. The court directed that a district-level vulnerability mapping exercise be completed and distributed to neighbouring police stations, so that data on repeated criminal activity and known offenders would not remain siloed within individual jurisdictions, and further stipulated that targeted patrols and security measures be maintained at all identified parks and exposed locations at all times, with particular attention to evening and early morning hours as well as any additional periods identified through the crime and vulnerability assessment. The panel directed that a designated officer oversee each relevant premises, with authorities required to establish a regular inspection framework, and further ordered law enforcement to rigorously uphold the safety protocols set out by the court in Avishek Goenka v. In *Union of India & Anr* (2011), the court explicitly observed that dark, tinted, or solar-control window films on vehicles could obscure interior activities, thereby enabling criminal conduct to go undetected. The apex court directed law enforcement authorities to enforce the full ban on aftermarket window tinting without exception, taking prompt action to seize non-compliant vehicles, strip unauthorised coatings, and pursue legal proceedings against those found in violation. The directive also mandated an immediate review of lighting and surveillance camera coverage across public parks and areas identified as at-risk, with the aim of addressing gaps in coverage; non-functional cameras and lighting fixtures were to be repaired promptly, additional units installed wherever deficiencies were identified or flagged by residents, and a comparable assessment extended to metro stations, bus stops, bus terminals, railway stations and other major public transport hubs, particularly those located within or near designated at-risk zones, the order stated. The highest court instructed relevant authorities to draw on existing public grievance platforms — including the CM Jan Sunwai Portal — as supplementary data sources for pinpointing gaps in public-safety infrastructure, noting that residents may flag inadequate or non-functional street lighting, insufficient CCTV coverage, unlit or isolated stretches, unsafe entry points, and other vulnerabilities in public spaces. Where applicable, every such submission must include geographic tagging or location data, be referred to the relevant authority for review, and addressed within a set deadline. Upon confirming a deficiency, the relevant authority must put corrective steps in place, which may encompass the installation or expansion of lighting systems and CCTV equipment as the situation demands. The bench directed that all such complaints remain trackable by those who filed them, and that the Commissioner of Police, working alongside relevant civic bodies and public infrastructure agencies, periodically review submissions through the designated mechanism, incorporating repeated or corroborated reports into the vulnerability mapping exercise outlined above. The statement directed that public complaints should not be viewed as standalone grievances alone, but treated, where warranted, as data points helping to identify emerging vulnerabilities in community safety. The court directed police to step up enforcement through roving checkpoints and periodic vehicle inspections across the area.
