In the wake of the bomb blast at the reception gate of the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, Chief Justice of India (CJI) S. H. Kapadia, along with senior judges, reviewed the security at the Supreme Court.
On hearing of the blast, the CJI, heading a three-judge Bench, briefly adjourned the proceedings. Some other Benches also adjourned the hearing for a while. Interestingly, the blast occurred a few minutes before the beginning of the hearing in the “1993 Mumbai blast case” by a Bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and B.S. Chauhan. Within minutes of the blast, senior counsel Gopal Subramaniam, appearing for the CBI, informed the court about the blast.
In the afternoon, the CJI asked senior counsel Abhishek Singhvi about the security system being followed in Parliament. Mr. Singhvi said that in Parliament, passes containing a chip were issued for MPs and their drivers. Once an MP's vehicle crossed the security gate, photos would flash on the computer screen and there was no frisking.
When the CJI wanted to know about the cost of the system, Solicitor-General Rohinton Nariman said cost would not be a problem as the government could take care of it.
The CJI asked Mr. Singhvi to give a note on the security system being followed for entry of cars in Parliament and its cost by Thursday. He also asked Mr. Singhvi to help the court in getting extra space from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for parking of cars.
Bar Council of India chairman Ashok K. Parija and council member S. Prabhakaran strongly condemned Wednesday's bomb blast, saying it was a direct attack on the judiciary and legal profession. They said the aim of the blast was to shake the independence of the judiciary and “we should show to the rest of the world that the Indian Bar and the Bench will not be cowed down by such terror activities.”
They said: “We condemn the attack in the strongest possible terms. It is a cowardly act of violence and we hope that the perpetrators are swiftly identified and brought to justice.”
