Delhi govt declares LG’S panel on CCTV project ‘null and void’
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has declared a committee formed by LG Anil Baijal for installation of CCTVS in the city as ‘null and void', Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Thursday. Delhi PWD Minister Satyendar Jain submits a letter to LG calling his decision “illegal and unconstitutional”, claiming the LG has no jurisdiction over the issue.
“LG has formed the committee without consulting the elected government to stop the work on the installation of CCTVS in the city,” said Deputy CM. He added that without talking to the elected government, the LG wants to form SOP. This is to put the project in cold storage so that it would not be successful. The committee has been formed as a conspiracy to stop the work (on CCTV). The deputy chief minister, however, said that his government has not yet received any official communication from the LG office over the issue.
The government had in February finalised a concessionaire to install 1.4 lakh CCTVS in different parts of the city. The AAP government had said work would be completed by October this year. On Tuesday, LG Baijal had formed a committee to come up with a standard operating procedure for installation, operation, and monitoring CCTV in the city.
Meanwhile, PWD minister Satyendar Jain submitted a letter to the LG where he wrote, “The committee set up by you is illegal, unconstitutional, and has been set up with the sole objective of obstructing the CCTV project. Under the Constitution, the LG'S job is to do good policing and prevent crime. Kindly concentrate on your job. It is elected govt's job to install cameras. Please allow us to do our job. LG has no jurisdiction to set up such a committee. The committee is therefore void ab-initio. Therefore, I am directing the Home Secretary to not proceed with the same."
The committee was instructed by the LG to formulate Standard Operating Procedures (SOPS) for the project, flagging possible violations of privacy in the absence of such protocols.