CCTVs to keep vigil at lower courts

Senior officers said the bar associations at six lower courts were not ready to take up the responsibility of installing CCTVs,so the police floated tenders on their own to procure surveillance equipment after the recent bomb blast.

The security of Supreme Court and Delhi High Court is not handled by the local police. Instead,an officer of the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police handles security arrangements. There is no such dedicated authority to look into security arrangements for the six lower courts,and this has led to communication problems and delays in improving the surveillance at these court complexes.

“We requested the bar associations of the lower courts to help us finance the CCTV cameras,but nobody paid heed to it. After the blast outside the Delhi High Court on September 7,we decided to step up security at lower courts too. We have floated tenders for CCTVs,and they should be installed soon,” a senior police officer told Newsline.

There are six lower courts in Delhi- Karkardooma,Saket,Dwarka,Tis Hazari,Rohini and Patiala House. The Patiala House court,which is nearest to the Delhi High Court,will get 30 such cameras for the time being.

“Till the time CCTV cameras are installed permanently,we cannot take chances. So we have decided to hire them for a period of three months. We have placed an order for installing 42 CCTV cameras at Karkardooma court on a trial basis,” said Dinesh Kumar Gupta,Additional Deputy of Commissioner (East).

The security wing of the Delhi Police has also decided to buy bomb blankets in wake of several explosions in the city.

“In the process of augmenting security measures,we have also decided to buy five more bomb blankets. The process is on,and we hope to get them soon. We already have a few of them,but these additional ones will help us prepare ourselves better in case of any exigency,” said M K Meena,Joint Commissioner of Police (Security).

With the Delhi Police receiving intelligence inputs that lower courts could also be targeted by terrorist outfits,a decision was taken to upgrade security at the earliest.

The Delhi Police was earlier involved in a tussle with lower court representatives and the bar association officials pertaining to security measures. “The police cannot be present everywhere,so we asked for a little help from court officials. When they refused,we decided to act on our own,” said another officer.

The New Delhi Bar Association said that though installing CCTVs was crucial,it was the job of the police and not the advocates.

“It is the responsibility of the police to install CCTV cameras. Where do we come in the picture? We do not own the courts. We held a series of meetings with the police,where it was decided that CCTVs must be installed. As far as we are concerned,we can only extend our help,” said Santosh Mishra,president,New Delhi Bar Association.