Ask Kejriwal to accept security: Lawyer urges Delhi HC

A lawyer Wednesday urged the Delhi High Court to direct Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to take police security for himself and his ministers, saying they cannot be permitted to expose themselves to danger because of political or ideological reasons.

Mentioning the matter before Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul, lawyer Anoop Kumar sought the court's intervention, saying Kejriwal "should not expose himself to danger".

The bench refused immediate direction and asked the lawyer to file a public interest litigation (PIL), and said there were security agencies to look into the matter.

Kumar asked the bench to direct the central government and Delhi Police to provide the best security to Kejriwal and his ministers in the Aam Aadmi Party government.

"He is not (just) an individual but an institution. As such he can be subjected to grave and imminent danger. Kejriwal should not be allowed to object to security cover for himself and his ministers," the lawyer said.

"Ten times more cops are being deployed and ten times more expenditure is getting incurred than normal on keeping CM safe and even then there is no foolproof security," he informed the court.

The safety of the chief minister was not only his personal issue but the issue of the state and security agencies, the lawyer said.

Safety of officers, visitors, friends and family members of the chief minister was also dependent upon his safety, he said.

Kumar said no one can be permitted to expose himself and others to lethal danger because of personal, political or ideological reasons.

"Not only our cities and citizens have been on the targets of terrorist groups, our people are also being eliminated either out of revenge or with a view to settle scores or even due to ideological differences. Political animosity and rivalry have become a routine feature of the society," the lawyer said.

The PIL will now come up for hearing Jan 15.