Vellore court first to have CCTV in State

The Combined Court Building in Vellore is the first in the State to get Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras, according to Justice M.V. Muralidaran, Judge, High Court of Madras.

Shortly after inaugurating ‘A’ block at the Combined Court Building at Sathuvachari in Vellore on Saturday, he said there was a court order that CCTV cameras should be installed at all courts in the State.

“Even before the Tamil Nadu government approved the proposal, the Vellore district police took steps to install CCTV cameras at the Vellore court,” he said, lauding the effort of the Superintendent of Police.

He urged the State government to expedite works to install cameras in all courts in the State.

Mr. Muralidaran, who is the portfolio judge for Vellore district, urged advocates to refrain from boycotting courts. “Striking work affects not only the advocates but also the litigants who seek justice. Boycotting court duty will not bring a solution,” he said.

C.V. Shanmugam, Minister for Law, Courts and Prisons, said 48 out of the 49 courts in Vellore district are functioning in their own buildings. “Only the court at Vaniyambadi is functioning in a rented building. The Collector has identified land for constructing the court building. The proposal will be sent to the Madras High Court, and then to the State government. We will definitely look into it,” he assured.

Nearly 89.6 per cent courts in Tamil Nadu were functioning in own buildings, he said, adding that this would become 100 per cent soon. There were 1,014 courts in Tamil Nadu. Of this, 223 courts were opened during the last five years. Funds to the tune of Rs. 58.12 crore had been spent on constructing buildings for these courts, he said.

During 2015-2016, a total of 53 courts were opened in the State, of which 11 were established in Vellore district alone, he said.

The Chief Minister had announced in 2014 that new buildings would be constructed at a cost of Rs. 20.3 crore for 15 courts that were facing space crunch in the Vellore Combined Court Building, Mr. Shanmugam added.

The ‘A’ Block of the Combined Court Building has come up after several years at a cost of Rs. 14.37 crore. The building will have eight court halls — six magistrate courts, one mahila court and one additional district sessions court.

During the inauguration, advocates sought for lift facility and a guest house. A demand to fill vacancies in the family court and consumer court was also put forward.

Ministers K.C. Veeramani and Nilofer Khafeel, Collector S.A. Raman, Principal District and Sessions Judge, Vellore, S. Ananthi and Superintendent of Police P. Pakalavan were present.