Chandigarh, June 9
The Punjab Government today told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that member of the previous state Assembly (2017) would no longer be entitled to “positional security cover”.
In an affidavit placed before Justice Anil Kshetarpal’s Bench, the state said security cover beyond positional norms could be provided on the basis of assessment of threat perception.
The affidavit by AIG (Security) Varinder Paul Singh was submitted by Senior Deputy Advocate-General Gaurav Garg Dhuriwala in response to a petition filed by senior Akali leader Gulzar Singh Ranike.
Quoting the state security policy, the AIG said personal security cover to an individual may be provided either on the basis of position held by him or an assessment of threat perception. The petitioner’s term as an MLA ended in 2017.
“Now, there is no specific threat to the petitioner as per threat perception reports. The petitioner is no longer holding the elected position. Due to this reason, he is no longer eligible for positional security cover within the framework of the State Security Policy,” the reply added.
It was also stated the competent authority had approved the withdrawal of security from ex-ministers, ex-MLAs and private protectees. As such, the provision of personal security cover at state expense was not warranted in the petitioner’s case “within the framework of the State Security Policy”. The case will come up for further hearing on July 11.
Cover for ex-legislators after threat assessment, HC told
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