HC rejects advocate’s plea seeking CCTV footage of court premises | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: Telangana high court has held that providing CCTV footage of court premises to individuals would be contrary to an existing administrative circular issued by the HC and Supreme Court’s directions on the issue. The court dismissed a petition filed by an advocate seeking CCTV footage of the principal district court premises in Wanaparthy district.A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice P Sam Koshy and Justice Narsing Rao Nandikonda also held that such footage could be furnished if sought by an investigating officer for investigation purposes. The petitioner, Ranjit Charan Kumar, sought the footage in connection with an alleged altercation that took place on the court premises in April. After the district court’s public information officer rejected his request for CCTV footage, he approached the high court.He contended that the district court authorities had preserved the footage but failed to provide it to him. He sought a direction to the authorities to provide the footage, along with an interim order directing its disclosure without reference to the 2024 circular.The bench said the HC had issued a circular in July 2024 directing district unit heads not to provide CCTV footage of court proceedings or other proceedings under the RTI Act. “The circular was issued in view of SC’s directions delivered in Aug 2017,” the bench noted. Observing that granting the relief sought by the petitioner would be contrary to the existing circular and Supreme Court’s directions, the bench found no merit in the petition and dismissed it.The bench further noted that CCTV footage could be made available to an investigating officer upon request during an investigation into a complaint or a criminal case registered through an FIR. It clarified that such footage could be provided to investigating officers for investigation purposes.