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‘Y’ security to HC judges who gave hijab verdict: Bommai
The development comes after police in Tamil Nadu arrested two men who allegedly issued threats against the three judges of the special bench — chief justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, and justices Krishna Dixit and Khazi M Jaibunnisa.
The three judges of the Karnataka High Court who recently upheld the state government’s ban on wearing hijabs in educational institutions will be provided with additional security cover, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai announced on Sunday.
The development comes after police in Tamil Nadu arrested two men who allegedly issued threats against the three judges of the special bench — chief justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, and justices Krishna Dixit and Khazi M Jaibunnisa. A video that emerged after the verdict showed a man issuing threats, which prompted police action.
Several organisations in Tamil Nadu are protesting the judgment. A video of accused Kovai Rahamathulla went viral, where he allegedly instigates violence against the Karnataka judges. In his speech, Rahamathulla mentions a district judge in Jharkhand being mowed down last year while on a morning walk. People know where the chief justice of Karnataka goes for a walk in the morning, he said.
“We have decided to give Y category security to all three judges who gave the hijab verdict. I have instructed the director general and inspector general of police to probe the complaint filed in Vidhana Soudha police station thoroughly in which some people gave life threats to the judges,” Bommai said at a media briefing outside his residence in Bengaluru.
Following the death threats, the chief minister directed the state director general of police to start the investigation immediately.
“A case has been registered in Tamil Nadu. The Bar Council of Karnataka High Court too has filed a case at Vidhana Soudha police station. This case has been taken up very seriously. Orders have been issued to get their custody to bring them to the State and take stringent legal action against the accused,” CM Bommai stated.
Bengaluru police will be providing security to the judges, police commissioner Kamal Pant said. “The security at the houses of the judges was beefed up before the verdict,” the city police chief said. “We will further enhance it.”.
Y category security allows for a police sentry at the residence and an armed police constable accompanying the judges at all times, a police officer said.
“The judges were getting much more protection than Y category security already. So, the announcing of Y category security was just a formality,” the officer said, requesting anonymity. “The only addition is that they will get a pilot vehicle during their travel.”
Bommai slammed the secularists for remaining silent about this case and said that appeasing a section of the people like this is not secularism, it amounts to communalism.
“We need to fight unitedly in cases like this as we need to preserve the judicial system of the country. Cases like this pose a threat to the nation’s democratic system. It should be strongly condemned in public,” he added.
On February 28, the cybercrime division of Bengaluru police registered a case against the administrator of a Facebook page called Manglore Muslims, and against another person who had posted against one of the three judges.
Two persons from Udupi were detained by Mangaluru police for liking and commenting on objectionable and divisive posts on the Mangalore Muslim page a day earlier.
