Police protection is not a right: Guj HC rejects Shweta Bhatt’s Plea

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Friday dismissed the petition by Shweta Bhatt, wife of Ex-IPS Sanjeev Bhatt to know the reason why the state government withdrew the police portion of her and her family.

Dismissing the plea, Justice Nizar Desai said that police protection is not a matter of right, and the state government is justified in maintaining the confidentiality of such an order passed on June 18, 2018, withdrawing security from 64 persons.

The government had submitted that details are kept confidential as communicating it to a party may lead to a leak, and it may expose the mode and manner of the state government’s collection of information and intelligence.

The bench noted in the order, “Police protection is not a matter of right and police have very limited resources for granting protection as manpower is very limited. The limited police force is meant for the protection of citizens at large and for maintaining law and order.”

The court also noted that sharing the list of names whose security was taken away was enough and the decision was not by an individual but by a committee. DeshGujarat