Can't dilute CISF security, Madras HC tells lawyers

CHENNAI: The Madras high court has refused to dilute the new security system by the CISF for it.On day two of CISF's security system on the high court campus, when a related case came up for hearing, a few advocates represented to the first bench that advocates need not be body frisked by CISF personnel and that the personnel need not carry rifles while on campus.The bench of chief justice Sanjay kishan Kaul and Justice Pushpa Satyanarayana, however, declined to order anything in dilution of security protocol. "Let it be clear. I will not interfere with security matters," said Kaul, asking advocates with grievance to approach the security committees for remedy.Madras high court advocates association (MHAA) president R C Paul Kanagaraj said senior advocates face inconvenience by repeated body frisking. When another lawyer said CISF personnel should not carry rifles and guns, chief justice Kaul said, "Do you expect them to stand with danda."When individual lawyers started making complaints, he said he could not listen to every individual lawyers. They should instead compile their grievances and submit them to the security committee."We are not dealing with any perfect situation here. Working problems are bound to be encountered. There is a mechanism to deal with such troubles," chief justice Kaul said.Referring to an anecdote in the Supreme Court where jurist Fali S Nariman waited outside the court entrance since he had forgotten to bring his proximity card, court justice Kaul said: "It depends on the attitude.""We are trying to work out a system to work with everybody's cooperation," he said.The bench then adjourned the matter to January 5, 2016 for further hearing.This is a suo motu PIL proceedings initiated by the first bench after it came under a day-long siege by a group of lawyers demanding declaration of Tamil as official language of the high court, on September 14. Besides directing three state government to declare the high court campuses in Chennai and Madurai as high security zones, the bench had ordered deployment of CISF for the high court's security.