The High Court has permitted the government to pay ₹11.79 crore to Keltron as the first instalment of the contract to procure 726 AI-enabled cameras that were installed earlier this year on roads across the State.
This will, however, be conditional to the final order in the case (that had been filed by Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala alleging corruption in the AI-camera project, and demanding a probe supervised by the High Court). The court had earlier this year curtailed payment without its permission.
The government contended that it was time to pay the first instalment to Keltron and that the allegations were raised only in 2023, although work on the project began in 2020. The petitioners had said that these were not AI-enabled cameras and that they were procured at inflated prices.
