Delhi High Court blast: Supreme Court to have top security cover soon

NEW DELHI: Alarmed over the blast at the Delhi High Court, 3 months after a 'dry run' at the same place, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directed Home Minsiter P Chidambaram and Law Minister Salman Khurshid to take urgent steps to augment security cover for the Supreme Court complex.

Singh, PMO sources said, asked the two ministers to call on Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia and take urgent steps to strengthen security arrangements at the Supreme Court complex.

The prime ministerial intervention could also be seen against the backdrop of the e-mail purportedly sent by Indian Mujahideen, which warned that the Supreme Court will be their next target if its demand of commuting the death sentence to Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru is not accepted by the government.

With the Delhi High Court being targeted twice, the government is keen that the Supreme Court is not subject to a similar attack. The Supreme Court is located less than a km away from the Delhi High Court, and is crowded during on all working days. Even though security arrangements at the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court were strengthened in the past few years, it is felt that are still too many gaping holes in the security cover. The government is keen on plugging these holes and ensure a full-proof security.