Madhya Pradesh High Court Issues SOP for RFID Cards for Identification & Security of Members of Legal Profession

In light of the recent attack on an undertrial inside Rohini Trial Court in New Delhi, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has drawn Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to ensure the safety and security of the members of the legal profession.

The SOP has described the security of the Courts in an alliterative phraseology as the 3Ps; Perimeter, Proximate, and Personal.

Perimeter security deals with the first stage where the probable assailant is attempting to enter the court premises. Proximate security is the second stage where the assailant has breached the first stage and has access to the court complex. Personal security deals with the security of the judge and the staff inside the Courtroom, which is provided with an armed PSO for the judge, if need be. In this SOP, we are only concerned with the first stage, i.e., Perimeter security.

To draw the SOP, a meeting of the Special Committee, headed by Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq, oversaw the matter relating to the security in the court premises.

The meeting was attended by Justices Prakash Shrivastava, Sheel Nagu, Sujoy Paul, Rohit Arya, Atul Sreedharan, Vivek Rusia, Vijay Kumar Shukla, and Rajeev Kumar Shrivastava. The representatives of the Bar Associations and the office of the Advocate General also attended the meeting.

There was consensus in the meeting concerning implementing the system of RFID cards for the Advocates and the Court staff. The RFID-based identification system can verify the identity of the Advocates seamlessly, without necessitating them to stop and prove their credentials while entering the court premises. State Bar Council will issue the said RFID cards. The High Court has issued a detailed SOP in this regard.

A detailed point-wise SOP has been issued for the Advocates, High Court, District & Tahsil Bar Associations, High Court & District Court employees, and Subordinate Courts.

Click Here To Download The SOP

Read The SOP