2700 CCTVs Installed, 997 Security Personnel Deployed In District Courts- Delhi Police Informs High Court
|To strengthen the security arrangements of all the seven district courts in the national capital, 997 security personnel, including those from the local police and CAPF, have been deployed there, the Delhi High Court has been informed.
In a status report filed before the High Court, the Delhi Police has also said more than 2,700 CCTVs, 85 baggage scanners, 242 hand-held metal detectors and 146 door-frame metal detectors have been installed in the district courts.
The report was filed in relation to the High Court's suo motu case and a petition on the safety and security on the court premises, following the September 24 shootout in a courtroom in the Rohini district court that killed three people.
On December 13, a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad asked for a copy of the status report to be handed over to all the parties, including the president of the Delhi High Court Bar Association, the presidents of all the district bar associations and other stakeholders, to enable them to offer their comments in respect of any other security measures.
The High Court had earlier directed the Delhi police commissioner to undertake a periodical review of the security arrangements on the court premises, based on a security audit carried out by a team of experts, for the deployment of the requisite number of personnel and installation of gadgets.
In its latest status report, the Delhi Police informed the court that as on November 30, a total of 997 security personnel were deployed in the district courts as opposed to 783 on October 26, 2021.
The figure includes 493 security staff, 243 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel and 261 police personnel, it said.
A total of 313 security personnel are also present at the High Court, besides several door-frame and hand-held metal detectors, CCTVs and other facilities, the report added.
It also said additionally, boom barriers and 59 wireless sets and control rooms for prompt communication have been given to these institutions and every person entering the court premises is subjected to searching and frisking.
Meetings were also held with the Bar Council of Delhi for the issuance of non-cloneable smart ID cards for lawyers and a periodical security audit, it said.
Meetings were held with the court administration and other stakeholders regarding the common issues such as issuance of stickers for lawyers' vehicles, the introduction of a visitor pass system, raising the height of boundary walls with concertina coils at the top, appearance of high-risk undertrials in the courts through video-conferencing etc., the report added.
Concerted efforts are put in to address all the issues to augment the security set up in the High Court and the seven district courts, it said.
The High Court had, on September 30 last year, initiated a petition on its own concerning the security arrangements at the courts in the national capital following the September 24 shootout at the Rohini court, saying there was a need for proper and effective deployment of a sufficient number of police personnel in courts.
Jailed gangster Jitendra Gogi and two gunmen posing as lawyers were killed inside the Rohini courtroom on September 24 in a dramatic shootout that also saw the police fire bullets in retaliation, officials had said.
Video footage of the incident showed policemen and lawyers rushing out in panic as gunshots rang out inside courtroom number 207.
The two gunmen, dressed as lawyers, are suspected to be members of the Tillu gang, an official had said, adding that more than 30 shots were fired.
On December 9, 2021, a man was injured in a low-intensity explosion that took place inside a courtroom in the Rohini district court, raising questions about the security arrangements there. The matter would again be heard again by the high court in April.
With PTI inputs