Aftershocks of Delhi

by Animesh Sharma | September 14, 2011

Last week’s bomb blast at the Delhi High Court killed thirteen people and left almost hundred injured. One of the worst terror attacks in the country since “26/11”, it was also perhaps the first major terrorist attack on the courts and judicial infrastructure of the country. This attack shattered not only the fragile semblance of security that we believe exists between one blast and the next; it also shook the entire judicial system and its paraphernalia to the core. Bar associations have always condemned the countless terror strikes on the country before, but terror had now struck the doors of justice and its custodians were completely unprepared and even blind to this prospect. Suddenly now, there is palpable fear amongst lawyers (I can at least speak for the Punjab and Haryana High Court) of the possibility of future attacks. The fear of being an easy target is a near unanimous feeling and stems from the fact that the level of security of the courts and their preparedness to deal with such attacks has been completely exposed. This was not unknown. In fact it always stared us in the face, but we chose to look away because we believed that courts and lawyers would never be the targets of such strikes. The blast at the Delhi High Court, which is in fact considered among the most secure, shattered this myth. Other High Courts fare much worse.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court for example, seldom imposes seriously through the day, the rule that requires that litigants and non-lawyers enter the premises only with a pass. Once the morning rush is over, it is not hard for anyone to get in without a pass. As far as lawyers go, there is no system of identity cards and anyone wearing a black court and a band can pass through the gates completely unchecked, carrying whatever they want. Clerks and High Court staff are required to carry identity cards, which are never really checked. There is no X-ray machine used at any of the gates. A huge amount of money was spent on the purchase of high-security gear, which has been lying uninstalled for at least six months. Cameras have been installed recently in parts of the court, but the general consensus is that they are not yet operational. At the moment, there is extensive construction going on in various parts of the High Court, with workers free to walk in and out, leaving even more areas unexposed. Further, there is seldom any security inside a courtroom. The parking lot for lawyers requires a Bar Association sticker. Most lawyers do not have it, but no one can stop them from coming inside. Sitting ducks we are, no doubt. This is the security situation in the High Court and the lower courts lack even these basic security requirements.

The Delhi High Court blast has left the legal fraternity in shock.

This however, is only a part of the problem. Lawyers and the judiciary may have been shaken out of their inaction as an outcome of the Delhi High Court blast, but the chances are that this will only be a momentary awakening. A larger malaise assails the lawyer-community, that of a near-collective, arrogant, and aggressive belief that the court premises are their territory where any rule is meant to be bent or relaxed for them, and where they dictate the terms. They believe that they can argue, coax, threaten, or pressurise their way out of most rules in the court premises. I have witnessed, and sometimes been a part of, this strange and dangerous mindset in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Perhaps this sudden and pervasive fear, the realisation of their vulnerability, and concern for their personal safety will lead to lawyers finally following the basic security rules and regulations in the Court premises. I have already heard of instances of PILs being filed by lawyers addressing these security concerns in at least two High Courts. [Ed: A PIL was also filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to all the states to provide foolproof security at all the High Courts.] Apart from the realisation that the terror threat to the courts is real and immediate, if there is one lesson that must be learnt, and learnt fast, from the devastating and tragic blast in the Delhi High Court, it is that rules and regulations that make sense, should and must be followed and imposed rigorously, and that the lawyer is also not above the law.

Animesh Sharma is an advocate at the Punjab and Haryana High Court.