HC seeks Guj govt affidavit on CCTV cameras in police stations

The Gujarat High Court today asked the state government to submit an affidavit on the progress made on installing CCTV cameras in police stations across the state.
The order was given by a division bench of justices S R Brahmbhatt and A Y Kogje, in response to a petition filed by Prakash Kapadia, who had sought government's affidavit with the objective of preventing custodial tortures.
The judges also allowed the petitioner to file an affidavit to present facts over his contention that the state home department has failed to install CCTV cameras despite the 2012 court order.
However, the government told the court 557 police stations out of the 561, have been covered under CCTV cameras as per the high court order and the other four will be covered after shifting or renovation works are completed.

The counsel for the petitioner told the court that the submission made by the government that it has installed 15 cameras in bigger police stations and 9-10 cameras in each smaller police stations across the state was "incorrect".
The petitioner said the government installed only four cameras in each police station, which has no audio facility and limited recording time.

The matter will be heard on July 11.
In November 2012, based on Kapadia's PIL, the high court had ordered the government to install 15 CCTV cameras in each bigger police station and nine each in smaller, after it was told by the petitioners that such surveillance was required to curb custodial torture.

Kapadia, who runs the NGO Jagega Gujarat, had filed a protest petition on December 8, 2015, stating the state Home Department had failed to execute the court's earlier order.