Delhi High Court rejects PIL to make Delhi's CCTV footage public

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea seeking directions to make public the recording of CCTV cameras installed across the national capital [Save India Foundation v Govt of NCT of Delhi & Ors].

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said that not everything can be in the public domain and that the petitioner was asking for the public to do policing. 

“Participatory democracy doesn’t mean tomorrow you will participate in war [on the borders]… We can’t accede to such prayers,” the Court remarked. 

Further, the Court said that if the prayer is granted, it would amount to granting the petitioner the policing rights. 

“We are afraid we cannot grant such a prayer for the reason that installation of CCTV cameras at conspicuous places is done by the police under their normal duties of policing. If we permit an individual or organisation to share the CCTV footages, it would be like permitting the individual or the organisation to enter the arena of policing,” the Court observed. 

This sort of petition cannot be allowed, the Court underscored. 

The Court was dealing with a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by NGO Save India Foundation. 

It sought directions to the authorities to upload and share the CCTV camera feeds installed across the city.