‘Privileged class can’t be created on State’s expense’
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 18: High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh today said that court has no expertise to assess threat perception of any individual and responsibility for evaluating threat levels primarily rests with the security agencies. Moreover, the practice of creating a privileged class on the State’s expense by using the taxpayers’ money has to be deprecated.
The bench of Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal was dealing with a petition filed by Advocate Sumit Nayar challenging the stand taken by the respondents that there was no specific threat perception to the petitioner requiring the continuation of the security cover.
The High Court vide order dated March 3, 2025 directed the respondents to file fresh security assessment report failing which the official concerned was directed to remain present on the date fixed through virtual mode.
In pursuant to the direction dated 03.03.2025, the respondents provided the latest threat perception report in a sealed cover to the High Court and after examination of the report, it has come to fore that the petitioner does not face any threat.
After hearing Senior Advocate M K Bhardwaj with Advocate Manik Bhardwaj for the petitioner and Senior AAG Monika Kohli with Advocate Aditya Gupta for the respondents, Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal observed, “the security cover to any person is provided at the State expense, for which contribution is made by the tax payers, which by no stretch of imagination can be construed as luxury to be provided to any person as a status symbol”.
“The court has no expertise to assess the threat perception of an individual and it is only the competent authorities on whose inputs, the threat perception of an individual is assessed and on the basis of said report, the security is provided to an individual”, High Court said, adding “as per the report provided in a sealed cover, the petitioner does not have any threat perception and thus, there is no requirement of any security to be provided to the petitioner”.
The High Court further said, “the responsibility for evaluating threat levels, primarily rests with the police and security agencies, as they possess the necessary experience and intelligence resources to carry out such assessments effectively”, adding “courts play a crucial role in ensuring that the actions of security forces uphold individuals’ rights, especially, concerning due process and legality.
However, when it comes to determining the seriousness of a threat, courts may need to rely significantly on the expertise and judgment of the security authorities, responsible for such assessments”.
“The facts that emanate from the record do not establish any real threat to the petitioner and it seems that the demand for security is to display it as an authority of symbol and to flaunt his status as a VIP. This practice of creating a privileged class on the State’s expense, by using the taxpayers’ money has to be deprecated”, High Court said while dismissing the petition for being devoid of any merit along with all connected applications.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
