New Delhi, April 6 The Supreme Court has asked the Union home secretary to appear before it on Tuesday, so that appropriate assistance can be drawn from him in implementing the scheme for installing CCTV cameras in police stations.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order on Monday while hearing a suo motu case regarding the lack of functional CCTV cameras in police stations.
During the hearing, the bench asked the counsel representing the Centre about a recent media report concerning the removal of CCTV cameras installed by a Chinese firm at various locations, citing security concerns.
Referring to the report, Justice Mehta said that the Centre itself had given instructions to remove the cameras taken from a neighboring country because they were capturing data and sending it there.
"Now, the government has issued instructions to remove these cameras," the bench observed.
Additional Solicitor General Raja Thakare, representing the Centre, said that no formal order had yet been passed in this regard.
Senior advocate Siddhartha Dave, who is assisting the top court as an amicus curiae in the matter, told the bench that most states have already installed CCTV cameras and are in the process of setting up centralized dashboards.
When Dave said that Kerala has the best setup, Justice Nath said, "If you say that Kerala has the best setup, why can't other states follow suit?"
The bench said that this should be discussed by the authorities.
Thakare said that 60 per cent of the funding comes from the Centre.
The bench was informed that an under-secretary level officer had attended the meeting which was held to deliberate on the feasibility, modalities, and implementation framework of the issues raised in the orders passed by the apex court.
The bench expressed its dissatisfaction and told Thakare, "We are passing orders and you are sending an under-secretary level officer to attend the meeting?"
The law officer assured the court that a high-level official would attend the meeting.
"Let this matter come up again tomorrow. The home secretary, Union of India, should appear before this court so that appropriate assistance can be drawn from him in implementing the scheme that is being monitored by this court," the bench said.
On February 26, the apex court directed the Centre and others to participate in a meeting to discuss the feasibility, modalities, and implementation framework of the issues, including the creation of a centralized dashboard and the standardization of CCTV infrastructure in police stations.
The top court had earlier directed the registration of a suo motu case regarding the lack of functional CCTV cameras in police stations after taking cognizance of a media report.
The apex court had in 2018 ordered the installation of CCTV cameras across police stations to check human rights abuses.
In December 2020, the top court directed the Centre to install CCTV cameras and recording equipment at the offices of investigating agencies, including the CBI, the ED, and the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
It said that states and Union Territories should ensure that CCTV cameras were installed at every police station, at all entry and exit points, the main gate, lock-ups, corridors, lobby and reception, as well as in areas outside the lock-up rooms, so that no area was left uncovered.
The top court said that CCTV systems must be equipped with night vision and have audio as well as video footage.
The court made it mandatory for the Centre, states, and UTs to purchase such systems that allow the storage of data for at least one year.
