Put public before VIPs: Supreme Court to states

A day after Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said that women did not feel safe in the Capital, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Delhi government to explain why large numbers of police personnel were deployed for VIP security instead of being in the service of the common man.

A day after Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said that women did not feel safe in the Capital, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Delhi government to explain why large numbers of police personnel were deployed for VIP security instead of being in the service of the common man.

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The bench was hearing a petition on misuse of red beacon in Uttar Pradesh.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the petitioner, said incidents like the recent Delhi bus gang rape could have been averted if more policemen were deployed to carry out random checks on public transport.

Following the Supreme Court’s January 17 directive to states to spell out how much each spent on VIP security and how many personnel were deployed for it, the Delhi government had filed an affidavit on Wednesday.

Nine other states, including Bihar and Gujarat, also filed their affidavits.

“Why is it some former officers have hundreds of personnel…,” said the bench. “Which category is this?” it asked additional solicitor general Siddharth Luthra, who was representing the Delhi government.

It also questioned the logic of providing security to judges.

Defaulting states were given time till Monday, failing which the bench said the respective home secretaries would be summoned.