Cops to Delhi HC 170 stations have CCTV cover

  • | Saturday | 16th February, 2019

The court listed the matter for further hearing on March 20. Advocate Meera Bhatia, assisting the court as amicus curiae alleged that the Delhi Police was not adhering to the timeline for installation of CCTV cameras.Police had earlier told the court that the cameras it planned to install in the vulnerable areas of the city would record hi-definition videos and have facial recognition and numberplate identification features and would cost around Rs 404 crore.The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it in 2012 after the horrific December 16, 2012 gang rape of a young woman in a moving bus in the national capital. The woman, Nirbhaya, later succumbed to injuries.Apart from that, the court was also hearing a plea moved by social activist Ajay Gautam, alleging that there have been several deaths inside police stations in the city last year and the presence of functional CCTVs could act as a deterrent.In both the matters, the court has been, from time to time, issuing directions with regard to increasing the number of police officers in the city, installation of CCTV cameras in police stations as well as vulnerable or crime-prone areas, reducing delay in testing of samples in FSLs and ensuring speedy disbursal of compensation to victims of sexual assault. NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court was informed by police on Friday that installation of CCTV cameras has been completed in 170 of the 182 police stations in the national capital and the system was functional now.A bench of justices Ravindra Bhat and Prateek Jalan, however, asked Delhi Police to furnish a certificate from an independent agency stating that CCTVs have been installed at all the outposts and were functional.Police said the work of installation of CCTV cameras in eight police stations would be completed in a month’s time and the remaining four were related to the metro unit of Delhi Police, which were functioning from a single room.It submitted that the deputy commissioner of police, metro, has also been requested to identify the locations for the installation of CCTV cameras at these police stations and get the same installed as per requirement.The bench asked police to indicate the period of monitoring the CCTVs — half-yearly or quarterly — and indicate its choice of an independent agency for the purpose like the CISF or any other agency.Delhi government’s standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra told the court that the installation of 6,600 CCTV cameras in the vulnerable areas of the city was in progress and the work would be completed within the timeline prescribed by the court.On the issue of frequent malfunctioning of streetlights, which often posed a threat to security of women, the court directed the Delhi government and civic agencies to convene a meeting and discuss the framework by when these would be installed on each of the vulnerable stretches.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court was informed by police on Friday that installation of CCTV cameras has been completed in 170 of the 182 police stations in the national capital and the system was functional now.A bench of justices Ravindra Bhat and Prateek Jalan, however, asked Delhi Police to furnish a certificate from an independent agency stating that CCTVs have been installed at all the outposts and were functional.Police said the work of installation of CCTV cameras in eight police stations would be completed in a month’s time and the remaining four were related to the metro unit of Delhi Police, which were functioning from a single room.It submitted that the deputy commissioner of police, metro, has also been requested to identify the locations for the installation of CCTV cameras at these police stations and get the same installed as per requirement.The bench asked police to indicate the period of monitoring the CCTVs — half-yearly or quarterly — and indicate its choice of an independent agency for the purpose like the CISF or any other agency.Delhi government’s standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra told the court that the installation of 6,600 CCTV cameras in the vulnerable areas of the city was in progress and the work would be completed within the timeline prescribed by the court.On the issue of frequent malfunctioning of streetlights, which often posed a threat to security of women, the court directed the Delhi government and civic agencies to convene a meeting and discuss the framework by when these would be installed on each of the vulnerable stretches. The court listed the matter for further hearing on March 20. Advocate Meera Bhatia, assisting the court as amicus curiae alleged that the Delhi Police was not adhering to the timeline for installation of CCTV cameras.Police had earlier told the court that the cameras it planned to install in the vulnerable areas of the city would record hi-definition videos and have facial recognition and numberplate identification features and would cost around Rs 404 crore.The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it in 2012 after the horrific December 16, 2012 gang rape of a young woman in a moving bus in the national capital. The woman, Nirbhaya, later succumbed to injuries.Apart from that, the court was also hearing a plea moved by social activist Ajay Gautam, alleging that there have been several deaths inside police stations in the city last year and the presence of functional CCTVs could act as a deterrent.In both the matters, the court has been, from time to time, issuing directions with regard to increasing the number of police officers in the city, installation of CCTV cameras in police stations as well as vulnerable or crime-prone areas, reducing delay in testing of samples in FSLs and ensuring speedy disbursal of compensation to victims of sexual assault.

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