A person sought a direction from the High Court to the government that he should be provided security cover as there is a rumour in his locality that he is a BJP agent.
The petitioner wanted to stay at the old city Srinagar Jamia Masjid after being out of Kashmir for the past thirty years. In his petition, he argued he doesn’t know his neighbourhood and there are likely chances that he would be harmed and in that case, he will not be able to recognize his assailant.
The High Court didn’t issue any direction on the petition. Instead, Single Bench of Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul said, “there is no merit in the petition of the petitioner and the same is, accordingly, dismissed. However, in the event, the petitioner is aggrieved by the consideration order passed by the respondents, he is at liberty to challenge the same.”
Mohd Ashfaq Hussain Handoo of Tanki Mohalla, Jamia Masjid Srinagar approached the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir with a plea that directions be issued to Jammu and Kashmir government to provide police protection to him and his brother Manzoor Ali Handoo during their staying in Srinagar “as per the situation and circumstances in Kashmir Valley.”
He asked the court that security should be provided to him as there are rumours about him being a BJP agent. He said the rumours are spread by some miscreants. “There is every likelihood that the petitioner might be harmed. Having returned after three decades, the petitioner and his brother cannot recognize the faces of young neighbours. In that case, the crime doer will go unpunished as the petitioner cannot lodge an FIR properly against the miscreants. It is a great vulnerability of the petitioner and the matter of life and death. It is worth mentioning that the neighbourhood was once the hub of terrorists and some of the ex-terrorists might be still active in the area,” the petition reads.
The government counsel first argued how security cover is provided to an individual. She said the security cover is given on the basis of threat assessment reports laid down in the “Yellow Book” of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The threat perception report is assessed by the CID wing of J&K police through field agencies and an individual facing threats is categorized in the security review coordination committee.
The committee meets periodically to review and decide about the categorization of an individual who faces a specific threat and the quantum of security is accordingly provided as per the category entitlement.
The government counsel said the case of the petitioner was accordingly forwarded to CID J&K on September 27, 2022. “In response, the CID said the threat quotient has been assessed to be 03 out of 10 which is low.”
The government counsel argued the threat assessment report (TAR) of December 2, 2022, as received from the CID, reveals a low threat quotient to the petitioner and does not reveal any specific threat faced by the petitioner, as such, the petitioner is not entitled to security cover and categorization. The counsel argued the petitioner is not entitled to any security cover and categorization in absence of any specific threat.
