MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the School Education Secretary to file a report on how many government and government-aided schools in Tamil Nadu have CCTV cameras, how many still need them, and the estimated cost of installing them.

A division bench of Justice P Vel Murugan and Justice KK Ramakrishnan issued the direction while hearing a petition over the discovery of human excreta in a water tank at a school in Dindigul.

The petitioner, Balakrishnan of Madurai, sought an independent committee to probe the incident at the Manur Panchayat Union Primary School in Dindigul, where the tank is used by students. He also sought legal action against those involved and orders to prevent such incidents from recurring.

When the petition came up for hearing, the state government submitted video evidence to show that students were responsible for the act. The judges asked whether this evidence had been sent for forensic examination and urged the authorities to improve the investigation.

The Bench observed that CCTV cameras should be installed in government and government-aided schools across Tamil Nadu. It directed the School Education Secretary to file a report stating how many schools already have cameras, how many still need them, and the estimated cost of installing them. The Bench then adjourned the case.