The Supreme Court will hear the Centre's appeal against a plea in Mumbai challenging high-level Z+ protection for businessman Mukesh Ambani and his family.
A Public Interest Petition challenging the Maharashtra government's security cover for the Ambanis was accepted by the Tripura High Court.
“Security provided to one family cannot be an issue of public interest,” the Centre stated in the appeal before the Supreme Court.
“The petition was filed by a person who has no locus in the matter and is just a meddlesome interloper, claiming to be a social activist and student”, said the appeal.
“The petition is a misconceived, frivolous and motivated public interest litigation petition, where no violation of any fundamental right was even pleaded, the High Court has sought to exercise its judicial review jurisdiction over a decision which has been taken by trained experts on public order, individual and national security,” the government stated.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala that the high court had no jurisdiction to hear the PIL because the Tripura government had nothing to do with the security cover provided to the Ambanis by the Union government on the recommendation of the Maharashtra government.
“The High Court failed to appreciate that the family members were neither residents of Tripura nor any part of the cause of action remotely arising from Tripura existed”, the Centre stated.
On May 31 and June 21, the Tripura High Court issued two interim orders on a PIL filed by one Bikash Saha, directing the Central Government to place the original file maintained by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regarding threat perception and assessment report of Ambani, his wife, and children, based on which security was granted to them.
The Tripura High Court has also invited officials from the Union Home Ministry to appear in court with documents relating to the threat perception associated with Mukesh Ambani and his family. The summons to the officials was also rejected by the Centre.
The Maharashtra government had provided security to Mukesh Ambani and his family based on the Centre's evaluation of threat perception.
Picture Source :
