Concerned over her privacy, a 27-year-old woman on Monday filed a police complaint against her neighbour for focusing the direction of CCTV cameras installed by him towards her balcony.
The woman, a resident of Govindpuri in South-East district went to the police headquarters to file her complaint. The woman claimed that wrong installation of CCTVs by her neighbour was breaching her privacy. A senior police officer assured her of swift action in the case.
In her complaint, the woman said a restaurant had come up in the house next to her residence. The restaurant owner had installed several CCTV cameras outside the shop. One of the CCTV cameras focuses on her balcony and she feels it violates her right to privacy.
“After listening to her grievances, she was assured of action in the case. The situation will be reviewed by the local staff and will be verified. If there are any issues then it will be dealt accordingly,” said the officer.
Another senior police officer said that one can take legal recourse against voyeurism under Section 66E of the Information Technology Act, 2000, but the law is applied only to private areas like bathrooms or bedrooms but it is not applicable when it involves a door, balcony or building.
He added that last year, the Supreme Court judgment had declared right to privacy as a fundamental right. The complaints regarding focus of CCTV cameras that breaches one’s privacy can be treated as a violation of fundamental right.
The woman’s complaint comes a day after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal publicly rejected the recommendations of a six-member committee formed in May on orders of the Lieutenant-Governor to come up with a standard operating procedure (SOP) for CCTV cameras in public spaces.
Mr. Kejriwal on Sunday alleged the rules were a pretext for the police to demand money to give licences for cameras. Raj Niwas, however, said in a statement that the rules had suggested a reporting mechanism, not a licensing mechanism.
