"Don't Want To Lose Lives": Delhi High Court Issues Notice On Plea Seeking Directions To Ensure Safety & Security Of District Courts

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice on a plea seeking directions on Delhi Police and Bar Council of Delhi for taking measures to ensure safety and security of Delhi District Courts, in wake of the recent firing incident in Rohini Court.

Justice Rekha Palli, who sought status report to be filed in the matter within five days, remarked thus:

"This is something urgent. We dont want to lose lives.. You never know lawyers may become the victims of all this. Mr Sangwan (Bar Council of Delhi) can only request, but ultimately you (Delhi Government) have to gear up."

During the course of hearing, Advocate Robin Raju appearing for the petitioner submitted that the plea has been moved by a young lawyer enrolled in the Bar in 2019 who is under a fear of safety and security pursuant to the firing incident.

"The petitioner is relatively new in the Bar but she has got a fear now. Repeated incidents have been there but right after this incident, there were videos circulated on social media which had a jolted impact," he submitted.

On the other hand, Advocate Ajayinder Sangwan appearing for Bar Council of Delhi highlighted the steps taken in wake of the incident to enhance the security at Delhi district courts.

"We had a detailed meeting with senior police officials and it has been agreed that the security of district courts will be at par with the Supreme Court of India," he submitted.

Issuing notice on the petition, the Court also told Advocate Santosh Kumar Tripathi appearing for the Delhi Government that although the Bar Council of Delhi is taking steps to ensure security measures, the duty lies with the Government also.

The matter will now be heard on October 11.

Moved by Advocate Deepa Joseph through Advocates Robin Raju and Blessan Mathews, the plea raises concern over the shocking incident of firing while highlighting that Advocates who are practicing in district courts on a daily basis are unsafe, an example of which is a young legal professional who also got severely injured in the said incident.

Stating that the shootout inside the court puts a big question mark on the safety and security of judges, lawyers and litigants inside the District Courts in Delhi, the plea avers thus:

"In the recent past there have been incidents of shooting in the Dwarka Court, a firing near the Saket Court in May 2019 and earlier in 2017, an undertrial was killed after being shot inside the Rohini Court Complex. A shocking incident similar in line to the incident in Rohini Court was the killing of a Delhi Police head constable when four armed assailants open fired inside a courtroom at Karkardooma Court Complex in the year 2015."

"The ease with which the assailants entered into the court premises in the attire shows that they were well aware that it is easy to get access into the court by being in a lawyers attire," it adds.

In view of this, the petitioner suggests that strict direction may be given to Delhi Police to instruct all the police personnel at court entrances to ensure that they check the ID Cards of each and every lawyer who enters the court premises. It has also been suggested that the police should take strict action against those officers who do not implement this direction with utmost diligence and seriousness.

With regards to Delhi Bar Council, it has been suggested that an advisory should be issued to all the District Bar Associations to recommend members of their Bar to co-operate with Police personnel at the main entrance of courts.

"Article 21 preserves the right to life and Article 19(1)(g) that grants the right to practice profession gets violated in a tense and unsafe atmosphere," the plea reads.

A shocking incident of gun-firing took place in a court room in Delhi's Rohini Court on Friday. As per various media reports, Gangster Jitendra Gogi was shot dead in a broad daylight shootout that took place in Rohini court today. Media portals have reported that apart from Gogi, 3 others have been killed in the shootout.

The assailants, who were dressed as lawyers, attacked Gogi when he was brought inside the court room. Witnesses told the media that the judge and the court-staff were present while the horrific incident took place. Visuals of litigants and lawyers fleeing for shelter amidst the shootout have emerged.

Similarly, a lawyer has moved Supreme Court seeking directions to the Union of India and State Governments to take immediate steps and measures for security of the Subordinate Courts.

The Chief Justice of India has expressed deep concerns at the incident and has spoken to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court in this regard. It may be noted that the Supreme Court is considering another suo motu case relating to security of judicial officers and court premises, which was taken in the wake of the killing of Jharkhand Judge Uttam Anand in Dhanbad.

Title: Deepa Joseph v. The Commissioner of Police & Anr.