Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed a writ petition filed by Opposition Leader VD Satheesan and MLA Ramesh Chennithala challenging the state’s AI camera initiative under the Safe Kerala Project and seeking a court-monitored inquiry into its implementation.

A division bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji observed that the petitioners had failed to substantiate allegations of malafides, illegality, corruption, or procedural impropriety in the awarding of the contract for installing AI-enabled traffic enforcement cameras. “Despite the seriousness of the charges, they remain unsubstantiated by factual pleadings,” the Court noted, holding that the petition lacked the legal threshold required for judicial intervention in government contracting.

The Congress leaders had alleged that the project, executed through the state-run Keltron, was marred by nepotism, corruption, and violation of privacy. They claimed the Finance Department itself had objected to the proposal, pointing out that Keltron lacked technical capacity and had presented a “rudimentary and undependable” cost estimate of ₹236 crore for a build–own–operate–transfer (BOOT) model.

According to the petition, these objections were “brushed aside under political pressure” to benefit parties with close access to power, and administrative sanctions were granted in violation of established norms.

The Court, however, found no merit in the allegations and dismissed the petition in its entirety.
(With LiveLaw inputs)