Collapsing walls, explosions in court premises raise concerns:MP High Court seeks report, questions govt preparedness

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday, while hearing a case on security arrangements in courts across the state, directed the state government to submit a detailed report by March 31. A division bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf made strong observations on the state of security. In the matter, advocate BN Mishra appeared for the High Court administration, senior advocate KC Ghildiyal for the Judges Association, and government advocate Anubhav Jain represented the state. Court’s Strict Comments on Recent Incidents During the hearing, the court said that in some places judges are getting injured due to collapsing court walls, while in others bombs are exploding within court premises. The court questioned why the government is not serious about the issue. 29 District Courts Without Boundary Walls As per a report submitted by High Court Registrar Naresh M Singh, 29 district courts in the state do not have boundary walls. 27 Tehsil Courts Have Short Boundary Walls The report further stated that 27 tehsil courts have boundary walls of very low height. Only five district court complexes in the state have police outposts. Judges and families unsafe in 28 districts The report highlighted that security arrangements for judges and their families are inadequate in 28 districts. Government provided information on construction and improvements The state government informed the court that boundary walls have been constructed where missing, and heights have been increased where they were low. Hearings on judges’ security ongoing since 2016 The High Court had taken suo motu cognisance in 2016 and initiated a public interest litigation on the issue of judges’ security, which is still ongoing.