The poor security arrangement by Delhi Police in all the six district court complexes in the national Capital has forced the lawyers to conduct a day-long strike on Friday protesting security lapses which, they claimed, led to death of a 38-year-old advocate in the Tis Hazari court complex.
Co-ordination committees of all district bar associations decided to observe a day-long strike and demanded proper security in and around court complexes.
“It is unfortunate to hear that an advocate was killed at late night inside the courts complex,” said committee chairman RK Wadhwa.
Speaking to Millennium Post, many advocates complained about the lapses in security inside the court premises. “A court complex is a place where all the persons related to a case unite, including the accused, victim, advocates, witnesses, family members of both sides and other judicial officials.
The court premises is one of the most sensitive place where Delhi Police must ensure full proof security. But the police officials are not taking their job seriously,” said an advocate, requesting anonymity.
“The CCTV cameras installed by Delhi Police, specially to keep a vigil on the suspicious activities within the court premises, always remain non-functional. Delhi Police do not bother to maintain these cameras,” another advocate said.
Describing the carelessness of Delhi Police regarding CCTV cameras, Wadhwa said: “A week ago, a laptop of a lawyer was stolen from his own chamber in Patiala House. Interestingly, a CCTV camera was installed right outside his chamber but to no avail. When the victim lawyer went to the security person to examine the footage, it was found that the camera was non-functional.”
Not only the lawyers, but the general public are not safe in the court complexes. There is no proper checking of the visitors as the metal detector and the scanner machines remain non-functional. “At times, if the scanner machine is functional, for instance at Saket court (as it is a new court complex), the concerned official is either not on his seat or is lost in day dreaming. So these functional scanners are also worthless,” a lawyer at Karkardooma Court said.
“The security arrangements are even more worse in courts including Karkardooma, Dwarka and Rohini. The lives of those who come to the courts every day are jeopardized because of gaps in security arrangements,” he added.
Meanwhile, condemning the incident at Tis Hazari court, Murari Tiwari, former Honorary Secretary, Bar Council of Delhi said: “Central agency like CISF must be given the responsibility to provide safe environment for the visitors and judicial officials in the court complexes.”
On Friday, along with the day-long strike by the district courts lawyer, work was also suspended by the lawyers in High Court after 2 pm, because of which judicial proceedings were disrupted.