New Delhi: Terming as impractical the demand for setting up of a national force to protect judges, the Center on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that states should constitute such a special force at their level.
The Center said this during the hearing in the apex court on the issue of security of judges of lower courts across the country.
The apex court, which started the hearing taking cognizance of the suspicious death of a judge in Jharkhand, had sought answers from the Center and all the states.
“We do not want to direct the states as to what they should or should not do. Let the Center speak to the states,” said the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said, “A model guideline has been issued to the states on the protection of judges.”
The apex court said that mere issuance of guidelines may not be the ideal solution, the Center should find out from the chief secretaries and DGPs of each state how much it is being followed.
The Solicitor General agreed on the issue and said that he would advise the Union Home Secretary to convene a meeting of Chief Secretaries and DGPs of all the states.
The top court sought the Centre’s opinion on a plea which had sought the creation of a national body like the Central Reserve Police Force or the Railway Protection Force to protect judges.
Responding to the same, the Solicitor General said that this is not a practical demand, adding police and law and order are subjects of the State List.
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He said that only a state-level institution would be able to function there with better coordination with the police.
The top court reprimanded the states for not filing replies in the matter.
The top court, while warning of imposition of a fine of Rs 1 lakh, also said that the chief secretary of the state, who did not file a reply before the hearing to be held after 10 days, would have to appear before the bench in person.
“No one has given a satisfactory answer except Assam. Many states are yet to file their replies. Most of the states have reported issues like installation of CCTV in court. What will happen to CCTV? Will the attack stop?” The top court said and asked the states to file better affidavits.
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