Probe ordered into employment of guards at Sahar

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has ordered the Maharashtra Private Security Guards Board to hold an inquiry into the appointment of over 200 private guards at the international airport here.

The board was asked by the court to file a reply within four weeks.

The order, passed on Monday by a division bench of Justices JN Patel and SC Dharmadhikari, came during the hearing of a petition filed by the Krantikari Suraksha Rakshak Sanghatana (KSRS).

The KSRS moved the High Court against the sacking of nine private security guards from the Mumbai International Airport in 2002.

The reason for the move given by the Airport Authority of India was that it had decided to deploy only Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel in sensitive areas of the airport such as the cargo port.

According to KSRS' petition, however, it found that 234 private security guards are currently employed at the airport, and that they are not registered with the Security Guards Board.

The court expressed concern at AAI's policy on employment of private guards in the airport.

The AAI's defence was that it had stopped employing private guards, but new employments were made by the GKV-ACSA consortium that now manages Mumbai International Airport.

The petitioner's lawyer said airport authorities were now allowed to employ private guards only through the Security Guards Board, under the Maharashtra Private Security Guards Act of 1981, and the hiring of the 234 guards was illegal.