Rohini court shootout: Security in district courts should be like that in SC, say lawyers

The shootout at the Rohini court complex on Friday, which left three people dead, raises serious questions about security arrangements, lawyers said, citing that this is not the first such incident at the district court.

In November 2017, a 30-year-old under-trial was shot dead from point-blank range near a police post inside the Rohini court complex.

The security in district courts is ''absolutely abysmal'', former judge and Supreme Court advocate Bharat Chugh said.

Like in the Supreme Court, there should also be multiple check points in district courts, lawyers demanded following the Friday incident in which two men entered a crowded Rohini courtroom and shot dead gangster Jitendra Gogi, who was there for a hearing.

Both the assailants, who were dressed like lawyers, were killed in retaliatory police firing.

Rohini Court Bar Association additional secretary, advocate Pradeep Khatri, said the shootout has raised serious questions about the security measures and is a complete failure on the part of security agencies, which, he said, includes the Delhi Police.

''This is not the first incident in district courts. The situation is not going to change till the time the security module of the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court is adopted at district courts as well,'' he said.

Chugh claimed that the act was done to strike fear in the minds of judges, lawyers, and law enforcement.

''There are metal detectors, police officers at the gate and baggage checks but none of this applies to anyone who is in the trial court. Even if you are wearing white formal shirt and black trousers, they will think you are a lawyer and will not want to check you,'' he claimed.

A senior police officer, who did not wish to be identified, said, ''We keep going to courts regularly for our work. Sometimes a thorough frisking is carried out while at times, it becomes difficult to check lawyers.'' Chugh suggested that this incident should be used as an opportunity to completely overhaul the present system and ensure that district courts have biometric systems, proximity cards and multiple checkpoints just like in the Supreme Court.

''Fake lawyers are also a concern where people wearing robes enter courts. We must increase the number of security guards. Sometimes at individual courts, there is not a single guard with a gun,'' the former judge said.

A lawyer, who was on the court premises when the incident took place, called it shocking.

''We heard the gunshots and there was a lot of panic and we ran away from the place. Fortunately, there were fewer people and no member of the general public was harmed but things could have been far worse,'' he said on the condition of anonymity.

There were people who had come with children and they ran after shots were fired, the lawyer said.

''For something like this to happen on a court premises is rather shocking,'' he said.

Another advocate practicing at the Rohini court said that an ID-card system was adopted a few years back after a similar incident happened inside the premises, but slowly people and authorities stopped following the rules.

''Lawyers mind it when they are stopped for security checks at the gate. They question the security guards for stopping them,'' advocate Rajiv Pratap Singh claimed.

He also said that there is a bank and a post office on the Rohini court premises and people enter without any ID card.

Singh said two days ago in Delhi's Karkardooma court, family members of two parties attacked each other and taking advantage, the person-in-custody ran away. He was, however, nabbed later. "Families of the accused, clients and other unauthorised persons come to the court daily. They should not be allowed. Only those with ID cards should be allowed to come inside the court," Singh added. Lawyers' bodies in Delhi have demanded a probe into the shootout and called for abstaining from work tomorrow to revise security norms inside all the seven district courts in the national capital. The 'Coordination Committee of all district courts bar associations in Delhi' called for a suspension of work on Saturday and said it will decide the further course of action in a meeting that has been called for Monday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)