Delhi High Court Seeks Fresh Status Report On Strengthening Security Arrangements In Court Complexes

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Delhi Police to submit a fresh status report on the issue of strengthening and increasing the safety and security of court complexes in the national capital.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula said the fresh status report must be based upon the recommendations and the steps suggested and implemented as per a joint meeting recently conducted by all the stakeholders on May 06.

The bench in April had directed the senior officials of the Delhi Police and Bar Associations to hold a meeting and suggest measures to strengthen the safety and security of court complexes.

During the hearing today, the bench took note of the status report filed by the Delhi Police stating that a joint meeting was convened on May 06 with the members of Bar Council of Delhi, Bar Associations of all courts, senior police officials from security unit and district traffic unit.

The bench also noted that certain decisions were taken in the meeting and the President of Delhi High Court Bar Association was informed about the measures to be taken for strengthening the security setup in the High Court.

The status report further stated that regular meetings are being held with the building maintenance committee, security cell of respective courts and other stakeholders to discuss the security issues regarding the implementation of directions issued by the court in the matter of safety and security in courts.

The matter will now be heard on October 09.

The court was hearing a bunch of pleas seeking measures for increased safety and security in the trial courts, including a suo motu case initiated in 2021 following the firing incident at Rohini Courts.

The court in September last year had sought a fresh status report from its administrative side in a public interest litigation filed in July 2019 by lawyer Kunwar Gangesh Singh seeking directions to enhance the security systems of various district courts across the city.

In December 2021, the court had issued a slew of directions concerning the safety and security of the city courts complexes and for reviewing and revamping its security arrangements.

The Delhi High Court administration in September 2020 had apprised the High Court's judicial side that there was an urgent need to augment the deployment of police at the Rohini Court complex due to inadequate security arrangements.

Title: Court on its own motion v. Commissioner of Police & Ors. And other connected matters