Blast effect: CJI to chair meeting on HC security

It is learnt that a high-level meeting presided by the Chief Justice,along with five members of the Judges Committee,chief secretary,commissioner of Kolkata Police,director-general of West Bengal Police and members of the Bar Association and Bar Library Club,would be held in the Calcutta High Court tomorrow.

Bhaskar Prasad Baishya,general secretary of the Bar Association,said,“Various aspects of the security of the high court will be discussed in tomorrow’s meeting.”

According to a source,about 70 police personnel are deployed in the Calcutta High Court premises. More than 700 cars are parked around the building but only eight to 10 police constables are deployed to check the vehicles with metal detectors. The cars are generally parked in three to four rows. If a bomb explodes,the fire brigade would find it difficult to reach the area,the source added.

After the bomb blasts at Jaipur in May 2008,security had been strengthened in the high court by installing metal detectors at doorways,CCTVs and scanners to check bags of litigants and visitors.

However,Kolkata Police failed to implement the proposal of introducing identity cards for advocates.

Baishya said that identity cards would be introduced soon,and that advocates would display them whenever required.