Plea in Supreme Court says routine appearance of undertrials risks safety of public and judicial officers

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The PIL has been filed in light of the recent incident at Rohini Court, New Delhi which turned into a Gang War, killing 6 people including 2 advocates present in court.

A public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court has sought a direction to prevent various Trial Courts across India, not to insist upon the appearance of undertrials on "each and every date" before the requisite Bench.

The PIL filed Advocate Rishi Malhotra alleges that the undertrial prisoners are called to the Trial Court as a matter of routine practice thereby not only endangering the safety of public as well as judicial officers but also facilitating the opportunity of hardcore prisoners for escaping from the custody of the police.

The plea has been filed in view of the Gang war incident that occurred at Rohini Court, New Delhi.

Notorious Delhi gangster Jitender Mann Gogi was shot dead by members of a rival gang inside a courtroom at the Rohini court in New Delhi, in a shootout that has left several other lawyers and an intern injured.

The plea states, "even if the Trial Court deem fit in a particular case for prisons of an accused as an undertrial before it, the same can be ordered through Video Conferencing from jails and especially in cases of gangsters so that the public safety as well as the security of the judicial officers remain intact on one hand and the rights of an accused are balanced on the other hand."

It has also been stated that this was not the first incident that took place before a Trial Court, there have been various instances across the Trial Courts in India where during the usual course of appearances, either the public safety has been put in danger or the said undertrial has fled from the custody of the police.

The plea states that it "seeks to highlight a very crucial fact that the practice of the Trial Courts to secure attendance of the undertrials on each and every date is nothing but wastage of court’s time, money and more importantly, the safety of everyone including the judicial officers."