UMESH PANDIT Vs. STATE OF HARYANA AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is a resident of Faridabad. He claims to be an agriculturist by profession, Secretary of (Kisan Cell) Committee of All India Congress (I) and alleged to have contested election for the member of Legislative Assembly from Chhata Constituency, Mathura, unsuccessfully. He has filed this petition, seeking a direction to the respondents to restore the security granted to him by the State Government on 9.4.2012 in view of a threat perception from Student Islami Movement of India [SIMI]. The petitioner has referred to some complaints/FIRs registered by him namely, (i) FIR No.328/2009 under Section 506 of the IPC at Police Station, Sector 55, Faridabad [for short 'Ist FIR']; (ii) FIR No.85/2011 under Sections 506 & 507 of the IPC at Police Station, Sector 55, Faridabad [for short 'IInd FIR]; (iii) FIR No.503/2011 under Sections 506 & 507 of the IPC at Police Station, Sector 55, Faridabad [for short 'IIIrd FIR']; (iv) FIR No.58/12 under Sections 395 & 398 of the IPC at Police Station, Sadar Palwal [for short 'IVth FIR], FIR No.23 dated 14.1.2013 under Sections 506 & 507 of the IPC at Police Station, Sector 55, Faridabad [for short 'Vth FIR] and a complaint of an incident dated 29.1.2015 made to the SHO, Police Station, Sector 55, Faridabad about the threatening call [for short 'VIth complaint]

(2.) It is alleged that the petitioner was granted personal security by the Government of Haryana on 9.4.2012 which has been withdrawn on the oral directions of the CID department on 3.12.2014. The petitioner has allegedly made representations to the National Human Rights Commission, other functionaries of the State of Haryana and Union of India. Since the security has not been restored, therefore, the present petition has been filed.

(3.) After notice, separate replies have been filed by respondents No.1 & 2 by way of an affidavit of Yash Pal Singal, IPS, Director General of Police, Haryana; respondent No.3 Shattrujeet Kapur, IPS, ADGP/CID, Haryana and Subhash Yadav, IPS, Commissioner of Police, Faridabad. The consistent stand of the respondents is that as per the threat assessment reports dated 21.3.2015, 27.3.2015 and 18.6.2015, no threat to the life of the petitioner has been found. Moreover, the Police Department in Haryana is facing acute shortage of man power and the case of providing security to individuals without genuine cause reduces the available manpower in the department of Police and adversely affects the maintenance of public order and security to general public. It is also averred that the State Government has scaled down the security cover by withdrawing the security of ex-Chief Ministers, ex-Ministers, ex-Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and ex-MLAs except the protectees categorized vide letter dated 27.10.2014 and as a result of this exercise since October 2014, a total of 871 police personnel have been withdrawn from 301 persons including the petitioner and hence the petitioner is not an exception.