711 CCTVs Non-Functional In Police Stations Across Maharashtra; Bombay HC Summons Contractors

The Bombay High Court (HC) has directed the Maharashtra government to ask the two contractors who installed them to be present in court on Friday, March 11.

This development comes after the court received information that 711 Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) systems out of 6,092 cameras across 547 police stations across the state were non-functional.

The HC was also informed that the contractors had already been paid and were briefed about the Supreme Court (SC) guidelines pertaining to CCTV systems.

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A division bench comprising Justice S J Kathawalla and Justice Milind Jadhav were hearing the petition filed by Somnath Giri and advocate H M Inamdar, who approached the court after the Nashik police had issued them a notice under section 149 (unlawful assembly to commit offence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on January 8, 2022 which was arbitrary.

The court then asked as to why the non-functional device was not being repaired and as the contractors had already been a part of the ₹60 crores allocated for the same, why were they (contractors) not being held liable for the same.

Two contractors, Sujata Computers Private Limited from Pune and Javi Systems India Private Limited from Bengaluru were selected to execute the installation project, which included maintenance of the CCTVs and instruments for five years from August 6, 2021, the government affidavit said.

There are a total of 1,089 police stations in the state. However, 6,092 CCTVs have been installed in 547 police stations. Out of these cameras, 5,639 are functional, while the remaining are non-functional and 453 were non-functional and the contractors have been directed to rectify the issue within a month, affidavit submitted last month in the court stated.

Earlier, on February 21, the court had alleged that Maharashtra government did not do anything substantial with regard to the installation of CCTVs in police stations across the state.

The court adjourned the hearing to March 11.