Courts step up security after terror alert, postpone meetings

In a letter sent to the DHCBA, the Chief Justice of the High Court has suggested that any events involving large gatherings are “inadvisable”. The meeting, which was scheduled to be held on Monday, has now been postponed till after the Republic Day celebrations.

Meanwhile, the bar association of the Saket District court complex has sent out a message to all its members to “cooperate” with the security arrangements in the court premises, due to the “alert”.

Speaking to Newsline, Saket Bar Association secretary, advocate Karnail Singh, said that the district judge had recently convened a meeting of the security committee. In the meeting, senior police officers had said that the security measures in the court complex needed to be tightened.

“Given the recent incident in Peshawar and the upcoming Republic Day, we have asked lawyers to cooperate with the security agencies,” Singh said.

However, similar alerts doesn’t seem to have gone out in other courts. Delhi Bar Association president R K Wadhwa told Newsline that no security alerts had been received by lawyers at any other court complexes. Police sources have said that there are no “specific alerts” and security has been stepped up for all courts and other sensitive areas in the capital.

Sources at the DHCBA also said the excuse of the security threat may have been used to postpone the meeting due to political differences in the Bar.