VIOLATED: The sanctity of the judiciary was violated when Jitendra Mann alias Gogi, a notorious gangster was shot dead in the Rohini Court by a rival gang.

By Adv Vinayak D Porob

Following the shocking incident of an accused gangster being shot dead within a Delhi Court by rival hit men dressed as lawyers, they in turn were shot by the police. Our Legal Correspondent stresses the need for greater security in Courts

THE safety and security in the subordinate courts not only in the State of Goa but in the entire country is shockingly lax. This was exposed in the wake of the recent shootout inside a District Court wherein three gangsters were shot dead and a law intern was injured, resulting not only in chaos. It also raised severe apprehension about the safety of the lawyers and judges practicing and presiding over all the subordinate courts in the country.
No doubt, one of the most dreaded gangsters of Delhi was killed in the courtroom; however, the concern is not the killing of the gangster but the place preferred by the gangsters to eliminate their adversary. Shootouts and gangster killings are common in India and especially in Mumbai during the 80s and 90s, when ostensibly mafias and encounter specialists were ruling Mumbai.
Every stake-holder in the administration of justice has raised concern after the Delhi court room shoot-out, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, who spoke to the Delhi High Court Chief Justice and advised him to talk to both the Bar and the Police to ensure that the normal functioning of the court is not affected.

POLITICAL ADVANTAGE

POLITICIANS also have expressed their opinions and some of them have tried to take maximum advantage of the unfortunate incident and tried to politicize the issue, in order to avail maximum political benefits and to settle scores with their political rivals.
“You reap what you sow,” is a saying squarely applicable to the dead gangster and the other criminals killed in the encounter in the Delhi court room shoot- out, as one eventually has to face up to the consequences of our actions.
However, the issue of concern here is not the death of the gangsters but the manner and the place where the incident occurred. Now after the high profile shoot-out the security in Rohini Court in Delhi is beefed up. Which itself raises a question: Why in India prevention is not considered better than cure?
Why to put things in order in India, the administration patiently waits for an untoward incident to occur before putting preventive measures in place? An innocent litigant, lawyer or even the presiding officer, could have been injured or could have possibly lost his/her life. One can imagine the chaos which must have occurred in the court room once bullets rang out and were heard outside the court room too. The video footage of the incident exposes the security lapses and also poses the question: How the armed men entered the court room although metal detectors were at the gates?

SECURITY NORMS

DUE to security concerns in the subordinate courts in Delhi, lawyers have abstained from work while seeking modification of security norms; however, before abstaining from work the lawyers need to introspect and change their own attitude towards security checks, as most of the lawyers being influential, do not want to be frisked!
To ensure security of the court premises after the Rohini court room incident, petitions are being filed by lawyers in the Supreme Court and in the Delhi High Court, as security in the subordinate courts is vulnerable and also as no adequate measures are in place to ensure security of the litigants, advocates and judges presiding over such courts.
Recently, in the state of Jharkhand, a judge died due to an auto accident while out on his morning walk, under suspicious circumstances. A special investigating team has been set up to investigate the entire incident. Similarly, in the state of Maharashtra some two years back, a public prosecutor assaulted a judge outside the court room, after being miffed with a decision taken by the judge in a case.
In a recent incident in September 2021 itself, a public prosecutor in the state of Maharashtra was attacked by an accused, in the presence of the judge in the court room, after being convicted for murder.
In view of the security concerns and after considering incidents which have occurred due to security lapses, and also for not adhering to adequate security measures in courts, I feel that in addition there should be installation of CCTV cameras with both audio and video recording, live streaming of court proceedings with audio and video broadcast live over the Internet should be started. This would not only act as a security measure but would also assist the High Courts to supervise and maintain administrative control over subordinate courts.

LIVE STREAMING

LIVE streaming of court proceedings, would also go a long way in assisting the litigants in monitoring the progress of their cases sitting at home, and will also increase the credibility and accountability of the advocates and surely expose the equivocation. In-camera proceedings however, should be excluded from live streaming, but a recording of it should be saved for the purpose of exercising administrative control and for avoiding occurrences of untoward incidents during court proceedings.
If assembly sessions of the Lok Sabha , Rajya Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha can be screened live, there is no reason why court proceedings cannot be subject to live streaming in India, as countries like the UK, Canada and South Africa, have already started streaming live court proceedings. This in turn assists in maintaining transparency, efficiency and security in the court premises.

(This is the personal opinion of the writer who is an advocate practicing at Mapusa – Goa.)