The Bench also observed that policemen should be used for protecting citizens, probing criminal cases, and for other policing duties; not to accompany people to five star hotels
The Bombay High court on Tuesday said that police protection to individuals based on threat perception should be given only in the rarest of rare case, and that the law and order situation has to be such that civilians are protected.
Hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Sunny Punamiya highlighting the issue of non-recovery of dues from people given police protection, a division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N M Jamdar said, "Private persons are virtually treating police as private guards. Security should be given in rarest of rare case, and all cases, in which police is assigned, they need to be reviewed regularly."
The Bench also observed that policemen should be used for protecting citizens, probing criminal cases, and for other policing duties; not to accompany people to five star hotels, and sit and eat there.
The court said that on Wednesday, it would pass directions for the procedure the government will follow while granting police protection. "The person to whom police protection is given has to be of a certain stature," the Bench said, "It should not be given to everyone. There has to be some methodology, there cannot be madness in the methodology."
Punamiya said over 500 persons in Mumbai are given police protection and approximately Rs 10 crore is due from them. To this, the court replied, "People who are capable of paying, must pay. This does not apply to one or two cases, but to all." An earlier affidavit, filed by the government, said that 792 people were given protection in the rest of Maharashtra.
Emphasizing the need for regular review of cases, the court said, "Threat perception has to be reviewed regularly. A person may file a case of kidnapping and ransom, but over a period, the threat perception may subside. This fact needs to be considered before continuing the police protection given to him."
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