The Delhi High Court has asked the police to consider installing panic buttons on poles on which CCTV cameras are installed across the city for helping women in distress. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula was hearing a suo motu public interest litigation on the issue of safety of women in the aftermath of the December 16, 2012 rape of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus.
Advocate Meera Bhatia, amicus curiae in the case, suggested that panic buttons be installed on poles having CCTV cameras so any woman in distress can alert the personnel present in the master control rooms immediately.
The counsel of Delhi Police said the authorities will certainly consider the proposal and urged the court to grant them some time. The Bench granted the city police four weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on October 6.
Earlier, the court had directed Delhi Police to take immediate steps to install the CCTV cameras “since that would go a long way in curbing crime and make women’s security a reality”. The police informed the court on Thursday that 5,828 CCTV cameras of the 6,630 devices to be installed have already been put in place till July 15, 2023. The Delhi police said the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has started installing CCTV cameras and covered 45 of the 50 sites identified as vulnerable spots in the city.
The High Court has been, from time to time, issuing directions for increasing the number of police officers in the city, installation of CCTV cameras in police stations as well as vulnerable or areas prone ot crimes, reducing delay in testing of samples at forensic science laboratories (FSL) and ensuring speedy disbursal of compensation to victims of sexual assault.
