Security tightened at Gurgaon district court

Security at Gurgaon’s district and sessions court has been increased a few days after a check by Hindustan Times revealed serious security lapses on the premises.

Security at Gurgaon’s district and sessions court has been increased a few days after a check by Hindustan Times revealed serious security lapses on the premises.

Gurgaon, India- May 06: Haryana police personnel checking a visitor at the entry in district court, in Gurgaon, India, on Friday, 06 May 2016. (Photo by Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times) (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The nine entry gates of the building in Civil Lines area are now manned by two police personnel each besides a security guard with hand-held devices frisking people entering the premises.

A senior police official said that soon metal detectors would also be installed at the gates, especially the ones through which judges enter the building.

“We had raised the issue of unsafe court premises with the police. We called on deputy commissioner of police (DCP), West, Balwan Singh Rana and put forth the demands. We are thankful that our concerns have been addressed,” said Naveen Yadav, secretary, District Bar Association, Gurgaon.

The security arrangements of the court building, which is visited by over 8,000 people on a daily basis, were found inadequate in a check by HT recently. It had also revealed serious security lapses the lack of security personnel at any of the building’s gates.

Apart from the absence of metal detectors, the complex was also found to lack proper CCTV cameras. The ones that were installed five years ago after a shooting incident in the court premises are not assisted by a proper monitoring mechanism. There is also no facility to store the footage captured by the cameras.

On any given day, 2,500 advocates, close to 3,000 litigants, 50 judges, and other staff members enter the premises with 32 courtrooms, which is located next to the mini secretariat.

According to the Supreme Court guidelines, entry and exit gates of courts should be guarded and visitors should be properly checked. However, there were no police personnel present on the campus earlier.

In 2006, three persons were killed in a shootout that had taken place on the court premises.