Safe Kerala Project: Kerala HC Directs State Govt To Halt Payment Until Further Orders

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed the State government to halt payment of instalments for the Safe Kerala Project. This project aimed to install Artificial Intelligence cameras (AI cameras) throughout the State with the goal of reducing road accidents.

A division bench of Chief JusticeSV Bhatti and Justice Basant Balaji directed the State government to refrain from making any further payments until the Court issues further orders.

The directive was passed in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by VD Satheesan, a Congress member and the leader of the opposition in the Kerala assembly, along with Ramesh Chennithala, a fellow Congress leader and Member of the Legislative Assembly. The petition sought a court-monitored inquiry into the Safe Kerala Project.

“We call upon the respondents to not make any payment, until further orders from this court or after intimation to this court, of any of the annuities through which the present project is implemented,” the order stated.

In addition, the Court served notice to the respondents, which included the State government. Senior Advocate George Poonthottam, representing the petitioners, informed the bench that the petitioners do not object to the project in its entirety, but rather to the alleged corruption associated with the State government’s decision-making process.

“During and in the course of hearing we have appreciated the arguments of the learned counsel Mr George poonthottam and while ordering notice we prefer to place on record that the present PIL petitioners, who have been holding positions of trust and public office, desire transparency, accountability and complete probity in the discharge of public trust reposted by the people,” the bench stated.

In an interesting turn, the bench subsequently directed the petitioner-politicians to submit an additional affidavit outlining their policy of zero tolerance towards corruption, which they implement while carrying out their own duties.

“Therefore, we feel that the petitioners be given liberty to file an affidavit that the very standard they demand in the decision making process is the same standard they adhere to in their practice in public life,” the bench said.

The “Automated Traffic Enforcement System for Safe Kerala” project, initiated by the Transport Department, aimed to deploy AI cameras throughout the State to capture traffic violations and issue notices to the violators. However, according to the PIL petition, the awarding of tenders for the installation of AI cameras allegedly involved nepotism, favoritism, and corruption, including a violation of privacy rights as established by the Supreme Court’s judgment in Puttuswamy.

The petition argued that entrusting private entities with citizens’ information violated the right to privacy and contravened provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act and Rules. It further alleged that the project exhibited a pyramid-style corruption scheme from its inception when the work order was assigned to a State government company named KELTRON, despite serious objections raised by the finance department regarding their capability to execute the project.

The opposition leaders claimed that subsequent tender awards and sub-leasing of the service-level agreement (SLA) to SRIT India Pvt. Ltd and Presadio Technologies Pvt. Ltd. respectively also involved significant corruption.

In the hearing held today, Senior Advocate Poonthottam presented arguments highlighting the alleged illegality of transitioning the project’s development mode from BOOT (build, own, operate, transfer) to an annuity model, which requires quarterly installment payments to KELTRON. The bench acknowledged this perspective and decided to examine the PIL from this particular angle. The case was subsequently scheduled for a hearing after a period of three weeks.

“After perusing the exhibits we are convinced that the matter needs to be examined from the perspective of change in dynamics of the implementation of the projectwhether it is objective, bonafide or vitiated by any of the collateral reasons stated in the petition, whether the change of mode from BOOT to annuity the exchequer is directly or indirectly made to part with more than what is envisaged in the beginning And also that whether the issuance of ex P27 (Govt order approving Safe Kerala Project) without actually referring to if the matters to be decided were taken up consideration in the cabinet“, the order reads.