HC orders CISF cover for it to be operational by Nov 16

Rejecting reservations by Tamil Nadu government, the Madras High Court today ordered that the CISF security cover for it should be operational by November 16.
The new security system by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) should be operational in the court by November 16 and the state government should deposit within a week Rs 16.6 crore as demanded by the Centre towards deployment of 650 personnel for a period of six months, the court ordered.
The first bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T S Sivagnanam, passed the order when suo motu PIL proceedings related to security of the court came up for resumed hearing.

On October 14 last, the court had ordered that the "inner circle" of its campuses here and Madurai should be brought under CISF protection as a temporary measure and directed the state and central governments to jointly formulate a security protocol by today.
The court had taken up the suo motu PIL after it witnessed unruly scenes and obstruction caused by lawyers agitating for declaration of Tamil as official language of the court and over contempt of court proceedings against two Madurai-based Bar leaders last month.
When the matter came up today, the Centre said it was ready to deploy 650 personnel of CISF for the high court's security for six months and Tamil Nadu government should deposit Rs 16.6 crore in advance.

The state government said agencies of state and central governments could not work together and that state police was best placed to handle the job.
At this, the bench said "we express our deep anguish as this issue is being unnecessarily made into more of an ego issue with political overtures rather than look into the larger canvass of security requirements of the high court."
It further said "we have no option but to now direct the state government to deposit the amount as asked by the Centre within seven days... We make it clear that the new security system should be operational when the court opens after the recess on November 16," it added.