The screening system should be replaced and snipers and sniffer dogs deployed to provide better protection to litigants and prisoners, as well as lawyers and judges, at the District and Sessions Court.
These are among seven suggestions made by Additional District and Sessions Judge Chaudhry Tariq Javed, who deals with security matters at the lower courts, to a member of the inspection team (MIT) at the Lahore High Court, The Express Tribune has learnt. The MIT had invited the proposals in response to several recent incidents of violence at the courts.
The additional district and sessions judge noted that the judicial lock-up at the courts was located very close to residential houses and prisoners were vulnerable to attack from the rooftops. Another risk was that the residents of these houses could pass on materials to prisoners. The judge proposed that the boundary wall be raised.
He called for stricter checking of the items brought for prisoners by visiting relatives. He noted that many people smuggled narcotics hidden in food items to the prisoners.
The police guards deployed at the Sessions Court should be better trained and equipped, the judge said. The guards had appeared reluctant, during recent incidents, to use their weapons, he said. The number of snipers on the roof should be increased, he added.
The judge said that a Rescue 1122 ambulance should be permanently stationed at the courts to provide emergency medical aid, at least while the courts are in session.
He called for a new and modern screening system to be installed at all the main entrances to the courts, as the walkthrough gates and metal detectors currently in use were prone to going out of order. He also proposed the use of sniffer dogs.
The judge suggested that courts conducting criminal trials, should they perceive a potential threat of a security incident, be allowed to recommend that the trial be held behind bars.
Finally, he proposed that barriers be installed on the roads leading to the main court entrances, and the road leading to the judges’ gate be made a one-way street.
Some measures to improve security at the courts had been taken already. Tin sheets were fixed upon the boundary wall, officials of the Quick Response Force were deployed at courtrooms conducting murder trials, and lawyers were banned from parking inside.
Judge Javed Chaudhry said that the boundary wall was being raised and the construction of five turrets on it would begin in a few weeks.
There have been a number of killings at the District and Sessions Courts over the last couple of years. Most recently, a gunman shot and killed two men accused of murder inside a courtroom on June 15, 2013.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2013.