Shivangi Prakash –
Published on August 05, 2021, at 02:45 PM
Allahabad High Court recently dismissed a lawyer’s request for personal security to protect him from threats he purportedly encountered as a result of his employment, the Court noted that such security should not be offered solely to elevate one’s profile.
A division bench of Justices Ritu Raj Awasthi and Dinesh Kumar Singh concluded that personal security should be provided only to individuals who are facing serious danger or who have performed some service in the public interest.
“As a matter of principle, private individuals should not be given security at State cost unless there are compelling transparent reasons, which warrant such protection, especially if the threat is linked to some public or national service they have rendered … The security should be provided only to those who face real threat to their life for having done some work in the interest of the society or the nation from terrorist/naxalite or organized gangs and not otherwise“, the Court said.
The Court went on to emphasize,
“Case of providing security should be decided objectively by the authority taking into account all relevant factors and security should not be provided merely to enhance the status of the applicant.“
The Court was considering a petition submitted by a lawyer, Abhishek Tiwari, who claimed that his life was constantly threatened as a result of his employment and that, as a result, he should be provided with personal security.
As a temporary solution, the government allowed the petitioner to hire a gunner at State expense as personal security in December 2020.
The Court stated that personal protection can be supplied only in cases where the threat perception is true, as determined by the relevant Security Committee, and that security should be provided exclusively to individuals who are threatened.
“A personal enmity with others would not come within the parameters for assessing the threat perception of the applicant for providing him security. A person or political personality cannot claim security on the ground that he faces threats from his enemies because of some private dispute with them“, the Court added.
The Court went on to say that if there is no real threat to the individual, the government should not give security at the expense of taxpayers’ money in order to create a privileged class.
The lawyer’s request for personal security was dismissed by the Court as being without merit.
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Also read: Reforms in the Indian Judicial System
