HC warns contractors of termination if CCTV cameras not installed in time

The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday warned the contractors entrusted with the task of installing CCTV systems in police stations across state to ensure that the non-functional systems are repaired

Mumbai The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday warned the contractors entrusted with the task of installing CCTV systems in police stations across the state to ensure that the non-functional systems are repaired by March 22.

The court further said that installation work at remaining police stations should be completed as per the undertaking given to the HC (HT File)

The court further said that installation work at remaining police stations should be completed as per the undertaking given to the HC, failing which they will not be given any extension and contracts will be terminated. The HC also remarked that it may call for the footage of functional CCTV systems from police stations on Monday to ascertain whether they are working properly.

The division bench of justice S J Kathawala and justice Milind Jadhav, while hearing the petition of Somnath Giri, was informed by the contractors that as per the directions of the HC on Friday, March 11, they had prepared an undertaking to address the issue of installed but non-functional CCTV systems across the 547 police stations.

After perusing the undertaking given by one of the contractors, the court said, “Repair work of cameras that are already installed should be completed by March 22. This is the last extension. The remedy will be worse than the disease if they do not comply. There will be termination of agreement.”

The bench further noted that the failure to comply with the undertaking given by the contractors regarding the deadline would be treated as contempt of court and due process of law would follow.

The HC also appreciated the initiative taken by the state government to frame guidelines to implement the Supreme Court (SC) directions on having CCTV surveillance of the interiors of all police stations and said that it might consider asking all stations, where the systems are already installed, to submit footage of the cameras on Monday to ascertain whether the systems are functioning properly.

When one of the contractors complained to the bench that the reports in the press regarding the contract were harming its reputation, the bench said, “Let the press do its job, we will do ours,” and refused to pass any comments on the media coverage of the issue.

Giri had approached the HC after being served with a notice under section 149 (restriction on unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code by Nashik police. He had alleged in the petition that the police was being discriminatory and arbitrary.

However, the police had informed the court that the other party had also been served with a similar notice on the same day, following which the court had sought the CCTV footage of the police station. However, when the police submitted that the footage was not available as the CCTv was not functional, the court widened the scope of the petition to cover all police stations.

The court had observed that in light of a SC direction, which made it mandatory for all police stations to have CCTV surveillance and a regular backup of the data that should be checked by a senior officer regularly, it wanted to know how much of the order was complied with.

After being informed that a budget of ₹60 crore had been allocated for installation of the CCTV systems across police stations, the court sought to know how many were working. When it was informed that out of the 6,000 systems installed, 701 were not functioning, the court had called the contractors and asked them to give an undertaking on how soon they would repair the non-functional systems.