Plea in Supreme Court seeks cover for judges and lawyers

0
193

New Delhi: A day after three persons, including gangster Jitender Gogi, were killed in a shootout at the Rohini courts complex in the national capital, a lawyer has moved the Supreme Court seeking concrete steps for protection of judicial officers, court staff and lawyers.

Petitioner Vishal Tiwari cited similar incidents in Bijnor, Barwani, Amritsar and Hisar to emphasise the fact that it was not the first incident of this kind.

“Such incidents are not only a threat to our judicial officers, lawyers and people present on the court premises, but it is also a threat to our justice system. The court is a place where people are in the shelter of law but they fall victim in courts of unlawful activities,” he said.

The issue of safety and security of court complexes and judicial officers is already under the consideration of the top court which is likely to take it up on a priority basis next week. Chief Justice of India NV Ramana had on Friday expressed deep concern at the Rohini court shootout.

Tiwari demanded that hardcore criminals be produced through video-conferencing before the trial courts from jails, instead of producing them physically in the courts.

He urged the top court to direct states to open armed police posts in district court complexes as also at the “taluka-level judiciary”.

“Security and CCTV cameras should be installed in the district court complexes of our country, so that every incident may be caught in its true scene and occurrence,” he demanded.