Uttar Pradesh government to set up special security force which can search without warrant

On Sunday, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh said that a special security force will be constituted, which will have the powers to search without any warrant.

On Sunday, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh said that a special security force will be constituted, which will have the powers to search without any warrant.

This comes after an Allahabad High Court expressed its displeasure over the security at civil courts in December 2019.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Awanish Awasthi, said late Sunday, “The state government has given orders for the constitution of a special security force. A roadmap in this regard has been sought from the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP).”

“Members of this force can arrest any person without the orders of a magistrate or a warrant,” he said, adding that five battalions will be constituted in the first phase, and will be headed by an additional director general (ADG)-ranked officer.”

“This is a dream project of the Uttar Pradesh chief minister. The basis of this force is an order of the High Court, which had expressed that there should be a specialised force for civil courts. In all, there will be 9,919 personnel in the force. Expenses incurred in the first phase will be around Rs 1,747 crore,” Awasthi added.

On December 18, 2019, the Allahabad court had pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government over a shootout at a Bijnor courtroom. On December 17, three assailants opened fire in the court of the Bijnor chief judicial magistrate, killing a murder accused and injuring three others — two police personnel and a court employee.

A two-judge High Court bench had said “most incompetent police personnel are being posted at the courts”, adding that it would “seek the deployment of central forces if the state government is not up to the task”.