Delhi government today said it can install CCTVs for the safety and security of people in the city at its own expense, as the High Court took the Centre to task over the dilly-dally on clearances to strengthen policing in the national capital.
As the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told the court that it has approved the proposal to induct more policemen but clearance of the Finance Ministry was awaited, a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva said "you are not interested in better policing in Delhi".
"How many times will you play badminton with the subject? You are just not interested. Government can't function like this. Say you are not interested instead of shuttling us around. How long will we go on with this game," the bench said, adding that issue has been going on since 2012.
"MHA has cleared it. Delhi Police has cleared it. But Secretary of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, has not cleared it. He should be here to face the music. Say that you do not have money for additional personnel for Delhi Police.
"This is not acceptable. We are not the elected representatives, you are. We can't tolerate this kind of nonsense going on," the court said
In a sarcastic manner, it said "we request" the Secretary (Expenditure) to be present before it on next date of hearing on September 30 to explain why the clearance to the proposal for more cops was taking so much time.
After the Centre said it needs more time to install CCTVs, the Delhi government, represented by advocate Rahul Mehra, told the bench it was willing to set up the cameras at its own expense, provided the police tells it the locations.
"Their budget is around Rs 400 crore, but we can do it at one-fourth the cost," Mehra said, to which the counsel for the police said he will take instructions.
With regard to setting up of Forensic Science Laboratories (FSLs), Mehra told the court that in addition to the ongoing work for three labs, the Delhi government has already sanctioned a proposal to set up a lab at a government building in Dwarka sub-city in South West Delhi.
