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Synopsis

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday, October 9, upheld the Punjab Police's directive to downgrade former CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal's security from 'Z' to 'Y', citing insufficient grounds to justify her being granted 'Z' security.                            

The bench led by Justice Vinod S. Bhardwaj dismissed the petition filed by Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, seeking directions to the Director General of Police, Punjab, to upgrade her security from 'Y' to 'Z' category.

Justice Vinod S. Bhardwaj, in the present case, upheld the direction of the Additional Director General of Police (Security) to downgrade the security and said, "The authority conducted a thorough assessment of the perceived threats and concerns. Therefore, at this stage, there is insufficient material to reach a different conclusion." 

The court clarified that the security arrangements made by state police are based upon an objective appraisal of the latest threat inputs received from various authorities, stating, The court feels that there is no arbitrariness in the action of the respondent-state." 

Advocate Anirudh Gupta, alongside Advocate Amitabh Tewari, appearing for Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, submitted before the bench that the petitioner (Rajinder Kaur Bhattal) was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from Lehra Gaga in 1992, during a period of extremist activities by the Khalistan Liberation Force.

Advocate Anirudh Gupta further submitted that the petitioner was sworn in as Punjab’s first female Chief Minister on November 21, 1996. During her tenure, she received multiple threats, and she continues to receive threats to her life.

On the other hand, Additional Solicitor General of India, Satya Pal Jain, along with others appearing for the State, contended that the norms for the ‘Y’ category were 8 security personnel; however, an additional 4 security personnel have been deployed with Bhattal and that the said security deployment is based upon an assessment of threat perception.

Notably, on March 5, 2023, Satinderpal Singh, PPS, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Security, Punjab, filed an affidavit outlining the norms and guidelines for providing security to individual protected persons as established in the State Security Policy.

According to the affidavit, "The (Rajinder Kaur Bhattal) petitioner is no longer holding the elected position, due to the above-mentioned reason the security cover of the petitioner has been reduced by the Competent Authority as per the security norms, which is within the framework of the State Security Policy and as per the guidelines of the "Yellow Book," .

The affidavit also clarified "that there is no specific threat input indicating any threat to the security of the petitioner from any terrorist/militant/gangster outfits operating in the country."

In light of these circumstances, the court upheld the directives of the competent authority and said, "Twelve security personnel have already been deployed with the petitioner, and this Court does not find any aggravated circumstances on the basis whereof a conclusion can be drawn that the above security deployment is not sufficient to ward off any apprehensions the petitioner may have."

The court opined that the decision was based on the assessment of inputs and materials available to the Punjab Police and that no further directions were required for upgrading Bhattal's security from the 'Y' to 'Z' category. It added, "The petitioner may, if so advised, submit any additional material she may possess to the respondents for an appropriate assessment in accordance with the law."

The court accordingly disposed of the petition.

Case Title: Rajinder Kaur Bhattal v Union of India and others (2024:PHHC:129055)