Kerala High Court: In a civil writ petition to protect the petitioner’s right to privacy, V.G. Arun, J. calls State Police Chief of Kerala to consult with the Government and to come up with appropriate guidelines related to CCTV camera installation. The Court suo motu included the State Police Chief as a respondent in the present matter.
The present petition has been filed because of a CCTV surveillance camera installed by a neighbor which is focused towards the petitioner's residence and compound. Since petitioner's privacy is affected, the present petition seeks removal of CCTV Surveillance Camera.
The Court in the said matter observed that “In the guise of installing CCTV surveillance cameras for security reasons, individuals should not be permitted to snoop into the affairs of their neighbours.”
The Court acknowledged the need to call for issuing orders or guidelines dealing with installation of CCTV surveillance cameras. . The Court ordered the the State Police Chief to come up with appropriate guidelines related to CCTV camera installation in consultation with Kerala Government. For that matter, the Court suo motu included State Police Chief as another respondent in the present matter.
[Agnes Michale v. Cheranelloor Grama Panchayath ,2023 SCC OnLine Ker 387, order dated 17-01-2023]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Advocate K.R. Vinod, Advocate M.S.Letha, Advocate Chithra, Advocate C. Edadan, Advocate Nabil Khader