Bhubaneswar, May 19: Closed circuit television cameras have been installed at several strategic locations of the district and sessions court in Khurda following a Supreme Court direction.

The objective behind this is to record instances of lawyers' being threatened by relatives of the accused, the accused using mobile phones on the court premises and so on.

Sources said around 90 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras have been installed at the entrance of the court, corridors and court halls. Two cameras have also been installed outside the court building to keep a watch on car and motorcycle thieves.

The CCTV surveillance, which is being carried out under the Orissa High Court's supervision, will include four courts of Khurda and the Rayagada court in the first phase. Sources said an estimated Rs 30 lakh would be spent on installation of CCTV cameras at the Bhubaneswar, Khurda, Tangi and Banpur courts. While the work in Bhubnaeswar is almost complete, work at the remaining three places is on. The district court was established in 1980 and more than 20 courts function on its premises.

It has been a long-standing demand of the lawyers to install CCTV cameras as instances of the accused persons' family members threatening lawyers have become frequent. "The relatives of the accused sometimes get violent and create a nuisance on the court premises. There are instances of the relatives of the accused threatening the lawyers. The CCTV footage will help the police get evidence in these incidents," said Bhagbat Rath, a lawyer.

In January 2014, panic had gripped the judicial complex after a man hurled three crude bombs in the court of the special judge, CBI.

The CCTV cameras will also be a deterrent for the accused using mobile phones on the court premises. In April last year, Artha Tatwa group chief Pradeep Sethy - then an under-trial - had sparked a controversy after giving a telephonic interview to a vernacular news channel from the court premises during his regular production.

Former BJD legislator Subarna Naik, an accused in a money deposit-collection case, had also started a similar controversy after he was found talking on a mobile phone for over an hour on the court premises in January last year.

It is often alleged that associates of criminals meet the accused on the court premises.

"The CCTV cameras will be helpful maintaining law and order on the court premises. It will also be helpful in preventing motorcycle thefts," said Chitta Ranjan Das, another lawyer.