Bombay HC orders random check of CCTV cameras installed at Maharashtra police stations
India Today
The Bombay High Court pulled up contractors over the functioning of CCTV cameras installed at various Maharashtra police stations and said authorities must check if the cameras there are functioning properly or not.
The Bombay High Court said that from next week, it will ask authorities to send random CCTV footage to check if CCTV cameras installed at various police stations across Maharashtra are functioning properly or not.
The bench of Justices SJ Kathawalla and Milind Jadhav asked the contractors, entrusted with the task of installing CCTV systems at police stations across the state, to ensure that the non-functional systems are repaired by March 22.
The court was hearing a petition of Somnath Giri who had approached the high court after being served with a notice under section 149 (restriction on unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code by Nashik police.
Somnath Giri had alleged in the petition that the police were 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 CCTV footage of the police station.
However, there was no footage available as the CCTV was not functional, the police informed the court.
Two contractors told the bench that as per the directions of the high court in the last hearing on March 11, they had prepared an undertaking to address the issue of installed but non-functional CCTV systems across 547 police stations in Maharashtra.
