Don?t use PAC for routine jobs: HC

THE ALLAHABAD High Court has held that the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) must not be used for routine matters. The court said the PAC should not be deployed at routine plays, cinemas or circuses, singing or concert parties. Such entertainment should be within the competence of the civil police to handle, the court said.

THE ALLAHABAD High Court has held that the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) must not be used for routine matters.

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The court said the PAC should not be deployed at routine plays, cinemas or circuses, singing or concert parties. Such entertainment should be within the competence of the civil police to handle, the court said.

The court further directed that wherever the PAC was intended to be used to provide a guard of honour to a very important person, the previous permission of the sector DIG, or the PAC headquarters, should be obtained.

A Division Bench, comprising Justice Amitava Lala and Justice Shiv Shankar, passed this order on a writ petition of one Jitendra Singh alias Jatan Sirohi and others, seeking adequate security in the form of the Central forces or PAC, in addition to, or other than, the local civil armed police.

Rejecting the demand of the petitioners, the Bench remarked that PAC may also be deployed only with lathis/canes, or partly armed and partly with lathis/canes for controlling crowds during VIP visits. The PAC men should not be put on plainclothes duty on such occasions. The court said the PAC could not be used to escort prisoners. The court, accordingly, dismissed the writ petition.