Installation of CCTVs, recruitment for FSLs
Stick to timeline, HC tells police and AAP govt
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday told the AAP government and the police to abide by the respective timeline given by them for filling vacant posts in forensic science labs (FSLs) and installing CCTV cameras in police stations.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and A J Bhambani refused to accept the initial schedule indicated by the Delhi government for filling posts in the forensic science labs and subsequently, it came back with a revised timeline, which the court accepted.
Under the new timeline, additional or new 405 posts in FSLs would be sanctioned by January 31, 2019 and filled on contractual basis by March 1, 2019.
In all, 32 vacant posts are to be filled on contractual basis by January 15, the court said, adding that it will ensure quick clearance of backlog of samples for testing.
It further said that for the new posts, within 30 days of being approved, the Delhi government should send a request to the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) to start the process for regular recruitment and the DSSSB has to complete the selection within eight months.
Directions were also issued to the Delhi Police to adhere to the revised timeline it has given for installing CCTV cameras at police stations and police posts.
The police, represented by Delhi government senior standing counsel, Rahul Mehra and additional standing counsel (criminal) Rajesh Mahajan, told the court that cameras have been installed and are functional in 91 of its stations.
In 54 police stations, CCTVs would be installed by December 15, while in the remaining 57 police stations and 53 police posts, the work would be completed by January 15, the court was told.
The bench, thereafter, asked the Delhi Police Commissioner to ensure the timelines indicated are adhered to and listed the matter for further hearing on December 20.
Police also told the court that the work of installing CCTV cameras in vulnerable areas in the national capital would be carried out by it in accordance with the timeline and the details would be placed before the bench on the next date of hearing.
Mehra also told the court that the work related to installing 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras in entire Delhi for safety and security of the citizens, especially women, children and the elderly, would be completed in a year's time.
The submissions were made before the bench in a PIL plea initiated by it in 2012 after the infamous December 16, 2012 gang rape of a young woman in a moving bus. The woman later succumbed to the injuries.
Apart from that, the court was also hearing a plea by social activist Ajay Gautam, alleging that there have been several deaths inside police stations in the city in 2018 and the presence of functional CCTVs could act as a deterrent.
In both the matters, the court has been from time-to-time issuing directions with regard to increasing the number of police officers in the city, installation of CCTV cameras in police stations as well as vulnerable or crime-prone areas, reducing delay in testing of samples in FSLs and ensuring speedy disbursal of compensation to victims of sexual assault.