HC takes suo motu cognizance of security lapse following judge’s PSO incident

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has initiated suo motu proceedings regarding a severe security breach involving a “miscreant” who seized the firearm of a personal security officer (PSO) assigned to a sitting judge before subsequently dying by suicide.

The decision comes just two days after a new report in these columns highlighted the incident, which occurred at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Anil Kshetarpal, expressed concern over the significant lapse in security. “There is definitely a lapse in security,” the Bench emphasised in its order.

In its detailed order, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Anil Kshetarpal asserted that suo motu cognizance of the matter was taken by the high court on the basis of news-items published on September 22 in ‘The Tribune’ and in another newspaper.

The Bench asserted that the reports were regarding the incident that took place on Sunday at Golden Temple, Amritsar, “when a miscreant pulled out the firearm of a PSO of a sitting judge of this court and died by suicide by shooting himself”.

Before parting with the order, the Bench directed the state police chief to appear through video-conferencing on Wednesday. Punjab Additional Advocate-General Saurav Khurana was also directed to seek instructions in the matter.