[BREAKING] PM Modi security lapse: Supreme Court directs preservation of travel records

The Supreme Court on Friday called for the preservation of travel records pertaining to the recent Punjab visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during which a security lapse allegedly occurred [Lawyers Voice v. State of Punjab and Others]..A Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli also directed officers of the Punjab Police and the Special Protection (SPG) as well as other Central and State agencies to cooperate and provide necessary assistance to the Registrar General of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, who is required to keep all records in his safe custody..The Bench further appointed the Director General of Police, Chandigarh and an officer from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as nodal officers to coordinate with the Registrar General.It was also made clear that the Committees appointed by the Centre and the State to probe the incident should not function until Monday, January 10, when the matter will be next heard."Ask both the committees to hold their operations till Monday. This will not be in the order, but it's understood," CJI Ramana said..The Court was hearing a plea seeking a court-monitored probe into the alleged security breach during PM Modi's Punjab visit..Appearing for the petitioner today, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh argued that under the Special Protection Group (Amendment) Act, 2019, it is the duty of the Centre and the State and other local authorities to act in aid of the Director of any member of the SPG, a body tasked with providing proximate security to the Prime Minister of India."In this trip, there was an impermissible stoppage of PM's cavalcade and this is highest breach. This cannot happen," Singh stated.Referring to the Punjab government's constitution of a Committee to probe the incident, Singh added that the breach has to be professionally investigated and could not be done by the State.As regards the Committee formed by the government headed by Justice Mehtab Singh Gill, Singh said,"The Chairman of the State-appointed Committee was a part of a huge service related scam. Police authority had also probed the conduct of this judge. Supreme Court had earlier held that this judge had targeted a police officer who had probed his own case."He thus called upon the Court to frame guidelines on how such issues should be handled..Appearing for the Central government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted,"Whenever the cavalcade of PM travels on road, the DG of State inspects the road to see if PM can travel. Here, DG has given a green signal. There is also a warning car ahead of PM's car so that in case there is a threat perception, the cavalcade can be stopped. Here, local SP can be seen sipping tea with protesters and warning car was not informed."He further claimed that protests by a certain organisation amounted to cross-border terrorism, prompting the need for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to get involved."Another organisation Sikhs for Justice had called for people to do XY thing and this can be an issue of cross-border terrorism. This matter cannot be left to just anyone and thus let it be with a district judge and with NIA official."He concluded,"This is a sui generis case of the international embarrassment of the Prime Minister of the country. Please call for details and keep it in a sealed cover. Signal must go from the highest court in the country so that this cannot continue.".Advocate General for Punjab DS Patwalia argued that the State was not taking the security lapse lightly. He said that the Committee was constituted on the same day as the incident, and was not an afterthought. An FIR has been lodged in the matter, Patwalia informed the Court."We are not joining issues. Our CM has said that Mr Modi is our Prime Minister. Even though the petition reeks of politics, we are not against it," the AG said.On the reservations expressed on the State's Committed, Patwalia said,"If there are allegations against the judge we appointed, I cannot argue one way or another...The IG of SPG, who is a member of the Centre's Committee, was also responsible for this and cannot be a judge in their own cause."SG Mehta then suggested that the SPG IG can be replaced by the Home Secretary on the Centre's Commission..When CJI Ramana asked SG Mehta if he wanted an independent committee to be constitute, the latter said,"Let everything be before you by tomorrow with records collected and we will place our individual concerns by tomorrow and you can look into it on Monday."The Court then ordered,"Taking into consideration the arguments advanced.. for the time being and in view of the issue regarding security of the PM of country... we deem it appropriate to direct the Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court to secure and preserve the travel records of PM.".During his visit to Punjab, the Prime Minister's convoy was stuck on a flyover at Hussainwala for twenty minutes after protesters allegedly blocked the road.The Central government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) blamed the Congress government in Punjab for the security lapse. The State government, however, maintained that the PM had altered his route at the last minute..The plea filed by an organisation called Lawyers Voice sought suspension of Punjab Chief Secretary Anirudh Tewari and Director General of Police Sidharth Chattopadhyaya.It further prayed that the apex court should take cognizance of the incident and direct the Bathinda District Judge to collect all official documents and materials regarding the deployment and movements of the Punjab Police during the PM's visit.The plea before the Supreme Court stated the security lapse was intentional, and blamed the Congress government in Punjab for the same."The security lapse, as per reliable reports in the print and the electronic media, and as per the Press Information Bureau report of Central Government, was clearly intentional and raises a serious question as to national security and the role played by the present political dispensation in the State of Punjab," the plea said.It alleged complicity on the part of State authorities given their presence at the blockage site."The overall responsibility for ensuring the safety of the Prime Minster rests with the State Government and the responsibility for providing proximate security will rest with the Special Protection Group (SPG) as per the SPG Act 1988. On the contrary, what was shocking and alarming on many levels was that local Police personnel on the spot were seen to be participating with the hooligans who jeopardised the security of the Prime Minister," it was submitted..Notably, the Government of Punjab had constituted a two-member high level committee to conduct a thorough probe into the security lapse. The committee will have former Chief Justice of the Punjab & Haryana High Court Justice Mehtab Singh Gill, and Principal Secretary, Home Affairs & Justice, Government of Punjab Anurag Verma as its members..[Read Order]