The Uttar Pradesh police have withdrawn the additional security cover provided to three judges of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court following instructions by acting Chief Justice Markanday Katju.Inspector General (Lucknow Zone) Sulkhan Singh confirmed that the escort—of five policemen and a police vehicle for each judge—was withdrawn on September 9. Sources said the escort was sought to be withdrawn to ensure ‘‘uniformity’’ among judges.Only three of the 67 judges of the High Court had an escort force in addition to the three policemen that a High Court judge is entitled to.Justices Jagdish Bhalla, N K Mehrotra and Bhanwar Singh were given the additional cover over a year ago. The reason given: they were handling ‘‘sensitive cases.’’‘‘The judges were provided escort security by government orders. Now, as per the instruction of the Chief Justice, the escort has been taken back,’’ said Sulkhan Singh.Sources say the ‘‘instruction’’ came via the Principal Registrar of the Allahabad High Court to the Registrar of the Lucknow Bench of the High Court on September 9. The note was then sent by the Registrar to SSP Kamal Saksena who forwarded it to SP (Traffic) Onkar Singh.The same day, Singh went to the Lucknow bench of the High Court and showed the note to the three judges. The escort was withdrawn by 5 pm on the same day and the police gave a compliance report which the official took back to Allahabad.Justice Bhalla, who had earlier been Special Counsel and standing counsel for the state government, was elevated as a permanent judge at the High Court in 1995. Justice Mehrotra joined the Allahabad High Court as a permanant judge in 2002 and has served as a Legal Representative of the UP government for five years. Justice Bhanwar Singh, a former Registrar General of the Supreme Court, has been a permanant judge at the High Court since 1999.
