HC rejects plea to install CCTVs in hotel kitchens

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed for an order to install CCTV cameras in the kitchen halls of hotels and eateries across the State.

The first bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Krishnakumar dismissed the petition filed by a city-based man named S Natarajan.

According to the petitioner, when the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) authorities conducted raids in hotels in 2019, it came to light that about 12 per cent of hotels and eateries functioned in an unhygienic way.

He further urged that there should be some mechanism to ensure the quality of cooking in hotels. The petitioner also informed the HC that several incidents of people’s death after eating bad-quality foods were reported in the past. Therefore, he prayed for a direction to the State to appropriate actions to install CCTVs in the kitchens of eateries and hotels.

“If the CCTV facilities are installed in the kitchen, the customers who visit the hotels could see the cooking practice and how hygienic the foods are,” the petitioner submitted through his counsel Pavithra.

Recording the submissions, the bench dismissed the petition observing “since hotels and eateries are functioning from metro cities to small villages, it would be impractical to install CCTV facilities in every hotel.”