Supreme Court seeks CISF cadre for security inside courts

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought to know from the government if a separate cadre could be created within the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which will be dedicated to providing security from unruly elements inside courts.

In recent instances, witnesses and the accused in criminal cases have been killed inside court complexes. Local police usually handle court security, but they are increasingly being seen unable to deal with the demands of the courts. Chief Justice of India SA Bobde has asked the government to consider a separate cadre to step in wherever required. He was sitting alongside Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant.

He said the November clashes between the police and lawyers in the Delhi lower courts could have been avoided if the CISF had been there. The violence began in November over a parking scuffle and spread till the court appointed a high-level probe to give a quietus to the issue. This is yet another flashpoint that the court wants to avoid as the CISF will be a predominantly non-local, pan India force.

The CISF is already posted inside the Madras High Court following a request by the chief justice there. This followed violent clashes between sections of the caste and politics-riven bar there. A tenuous peace has since prevailed in that troubled court.

The CJI’s remarks seemed to suggest that the normal policing routine of the police places them at odds with lawyers in a court complex. In the Madras High Court too, the police picket no longer exists within the court complex. Police now stand outside the complex. The court security is handled by the CISF. In the top court, though, security is entrusted to the Delhi police, though other states’ armed constabulary is frequently roped in for assistance. Most of them are police who have undertaken commando training.

The CJI seemed to suggest that the CISF would not be called in at every instance, but would only be posted if the chief justice of a high court feels that court work –– judicial and administrative –– was being affected by the police’s inability to deal with the situation. The CISF is also equipped with better arms and ammunition and is more professional. Currently, the CISF deals with security in embassies and airports and has also in the past protected India Inc’s high and mighty.