Yes — and in many criminal cases in Vadodara, CCTV footage has been among the most decisive defence evidence available, precisely because it is objective in a way that eyewitness testimony can never fully be. Whether the footage establishes an alibi, directly contradicts the complainant's version of events, or shows the incident occurred differently from how it has been described, its effect in court can be transformative.

Vadodara's urban geography creates both opportunity and urgency when it comes to CCTV evidence. The commercial corridors — Sayajiganj, Alkapuri, RC Dutt Road, Raopura, Waghodia Road, and the GIDC industrial areas — carry dense private and municipal CCTV coverage. The Vadodara Police Commissionerate has expanded camera infrastructure across major intersections and public spaces. Relevant footage often exists. The challenge is time: most CCTV systems overwrite recordings within a matter of days, sometimes within forty-eight to seventy-two hours, and footage that would clear you today will be irretrievably gone next week. The moment you believe relevant footage exists, you must act — a written preservation notice to the building owner or business controlling the camera, delivered that same day, is often the difference between defence evidence that saves you and evidence that has vanished. Your lawyer can move a court application directing preservation where a private party is uncooperative or slow to respond.

The legal requirements for using CCTV footage in your defence are as important as the footage itself. Electronic evidence is now governed by the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023, and Section 63 BSA (the successor to Section 65B of the Evidence Act) imposes a mandatory certificate requirement: without the correct certificate from the responsible official of the recording system, the footage is generally inadmissible as secondary electronic evidence. The Supreme Court's decisions in Anvar P.V. v. P.K. Basheer and Arjun Panditrao Khotkar v. Kailash Kushanrao Gorantyal confirmed this as a condition precedent to admissibility, and these rulings apply in Gujarat's courts. Getting the Section 63 BSA certificate, establishing the integrity of the chain of custody from seizure to court, and verifying the accuracy of the system clock are all essential steps alongside securing the footage itself. The criminal defence advocates at the Vadodara panel of Aapka Legal Advice can take every necessary step to preserve, certify, and present CCTV evidence effectively before the Vadodara courts.