Noting that the public trusts central agencies like CBI, the Supreme Court on Friday said it may consider referring to a larger bench Tamil Nadu's plea to have central security forces guard the disputed Mullaperiyar dam premises.
A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu made the preliminary remark while allowing Tamil Nadu time to file a rejoinder to Kerala’s position against replacing its State police with the Central forces at the dam site.
In a response to Tamil Nadu in the Supreme Court, Kerala had raised doubts about the “reliability” of an Intelligence Bureau report of September 2014 that the dam was vulnerable to terror attacks. This report was referred to by Tamil Nadu to buttress its case for central forces for the dam, which is now protected by the Kerala Police.
This report is also the basis of the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary’s letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs on May 12, 2015 for the deployment of a “professional security force” like the Central Industrial Security Force or the Central Reserve Police Force instead of the Kerala Police to police the dam and its appurtenant structures.
In an affidavit, Kerala said it has already established a separate police station dedicated to provide round-the-clock security to the dam and the Periyar water-spread.
“The State of Kerala as a precautionary measure does not intend to take any risk at all,” Kerala’s affidavit said.
