Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday publicly tore up the report of a panel set up by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to work out guidelines for installation and monitoring of CCTV cameras in the Capital. Kejriwal said no permission should be required from the police to install these cameras.

Addressing a gathering of Residents Welfare Associations, market associations and non-governmental associations at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Kejriwal claimed crime would be reduced by half if surveillance cameras were set up across Delhi, PTI reported. “I am extremely delighted to see women in such large numbers, who have showed up here for this session,” he said. “It means they want CCTV cameras in Delhi.”

“For last three years, we have been trying to get CCTVs installed in the city,” the chief minister added. “We also initiated the files, but the lieutenant governor, other officers and the Bharatiya Janata Party did not let us work.”

Kejriwal read out portions of the report of a panel set up by Baijal, and then tore the document up. “The report says that every owner and data controller of CCTV system collecting any information from public space shall report to the appropriate authority,” he said. “And, the appropriate authority and police shall visit and assess if CCTVs are needed or not.”

“So, tomorrow, I am going to sign the files that no license be needed to install CCTV cameras,” the chief minister added.

However, Baijal’s office said the report was merely a first draft which had been “put out in the public domain for suggestions/clarifications”. The office said that the draft recommended “only a reporting mechanism, not a licensing mechanism”. It also said that privacy concerns have to be addressed. “Recently, at the national level too, the Justice Srikrishna Committee has submitted its report on data protection law, as privacy concerns have to be addressed without compromising the security and safety aspects.”