A Division Bench of the Madras High Court led by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on Monday opined that an independent police force should be created in the State to take care of the security of the court premises. The observation is in the backdrop of the frequent agitations and strikes resorted to by a section of lawyers in the State. The Division Bench, which also included Justice TS Sivagnanam, also directed the Union Government to make a system through which it could deploy the Central forces for the security of the court.
The Bench was hearing a suo motu PIl proceedings initiated after the court witnessed unruly scenes and obstruction caused sometime back by lawyers agitating for declaration of Tamil as official language of the court and opposed contempt of court proceedings against two Madurai-based Bar leaders.
The Madras High Court in a directive last month had asked for the deployment of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in the court premises following demonstrations and sit-in staged by a group of agitating lawyers inside the court room of the Chief Justice. The lawyers were agitating demanding that Tamil be made the official language of the court and the repeal of the court verdict which made wearing of helmet mandatory for two-wheeler riders.
The court rejected Tamil Nadu Government’s objection to its directive to handover the security to CISF or any agency other than State Police, while the Centre expressed hesitation to accede to the court’s suggestions, saying it should not lead to a ‘Centre-State wrangle.’ The Judges said the nitty-gritty of the functioning of the special police force could be finalised by the court’s security committee and reminded lawyers that it was necessary to rebuild the institution. “Rebuilding of this institution is necessary. It is your institution. State and Central Government have to work out the operation with regard to the security and submit a report by October 30,” it said.
The Judges made it clear that their observation should never be seen as a lack of trust in the State Police. The court said the frequent stand-off between lawyers and police witnessed in Tamil Nadu was not a good sign.
Reiterating that there was clear lack of trust between lawyers and police, the Judges said deployment of a neutral police force was only a temporary arrangement till trust was re-established. “It can initially for a period of six months.” The Bench said some things which needed to be done were not possible because of the ‘bad blood’ between police and lawyers and added that the institution could not afford to take another chance with its security.