Proceedings in courts affected

The proceedings, however, could be resumed soon with the Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia deciding to review the security at the different Court premises in the national capital.

“We are certainly going to introduce certain measures whether you like or not,” Justice Altmas Kabir said, after a senior advocate pointed out before the bench that there was no proper security arrangement outside the Supreme Court as well as the High Court.

Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, who was arguing on the bail application of Unitech Wireless’s MD Sanjay Chandra in the 2G case, broke the news before a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and H L Dattu, triggering a strong reaction.

“It is very difficult to be mechanical and say that life will go on. Loss of human life is loss to the nation,” Justice Singhvi said. “It is sad that the blast has taken place outside the Delhi High Court. Since it is in within our country, we want to suspend the hearing for a while,” the bench said.

The blast, which killed 11 people and left around 65 others injured, is the second such around the Delhi High Court. On May 25, a low-intensity blast took place outside the court gate, but did caused no casualties.

Different benches at the High Court could not begin hearing cases in the morning following the bomb blast at around 10.15 am. The proceedings could resume only after lunch around 2.15 pm, with most of cases being adjourned.

Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Dipak Misra visited the blast site along with other judges to take on the spot assessment. Chief Justice of India Kapadia too visited the blast site.

In the apex court, Solicitor General Rohinton Nariman told the bench headed by Chief Justice Kapadia, hearing a tax case involving Vodafone, about the blast and suggested for installing the biometric identification system.

Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi wanted the Court to introduce the security arrangements akin to that in Parliament House. Justice Bhandari expressed deep shock and anguish over the incident and asked the advocates to render all possible assistance to the injured before the adjourning the hearing.

In the proceedings after lunch, senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi alleged before a three-judge bench headed by Justice Kabir that there has been no proper security arrangement in and around the High Court and the Supreme Court. “A blast has taken place on May 25. The irony is that nothing has happened since then, even no CCTV camera has been installed at vital points. The culprit must have placed the suitcase explosives at 9.30,” he said.

Rohtagi demanded that the courts take care of their own security. He also pointed out as to how any car with a sticker issued by Bar Association could make an easy entry into the apex court complex.