HC takes up PIL on installation of CCTV cameras in all Telangana police stations

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice N Tukaramji has taken up a public interest litigation (PIL) on the installation of CCTV cameras in all police stations of the Telangana State. The PIL, submitted by advocate Rapolu Bhaskar, stated that the presence of CCTV cameras in police stations will reduce custodial deaths, human rights violations and protect innocent people from police brutality and torture.

In a letter addressed to the chief justice of Telangana High Court, Rapolu Bhaskar stated that without CCTV cameras police brutality on innocent people can go unnoticed and unregistered. He said that the cases of innocent persons being beaten in the name of interrogation and succumbing to police torture are not reported due to the absence of CCTV cameras.

Bhaskar listed cases of recent custodial deaths reported in the media such as the custodial death in Medak district, at Tukaram Gate police station, in Secunderabad, and so on.

He said that there are 780 police stations in the state, out of which 40 per cent of the cameras installed in the city are dysfunctional. This means that out of the 10,597 CCTV cameras installed in the city, 4,402 cameras are dysfunctional. He said due to this, citizens are deprived of a secure life, leaving them vulnerable to attacks, theft and other dangers.

He said that even though CCTV cameras with 30 days of recording were installed in various police stations of the state as mandated under the Telangana Public Safety Measures Enforcement Act, 2013, police did not pay heed to the fact that about 40 per cent of them were dysfunctional

The chief secretary to the Telangana State government, the principal secretary Home Department and the director general of police, Telangana are the respondents in the suo motu PIL. The PIL is scheduled to come up for a hearing before the Chief Justice Bench on July 10.