New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (June 13) dismissed an application seeking withdrawal of Z+ security cover to businessman Mukesh Ambani and his family and warned the petitioner of imposing cost on him if he indulged in similar exercise in future.
A bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Manmohan, while dismissing the application by one Bikash Saha, reaffirmed its earlier order to provide Z+ security cover to the Ambanis and said that the petitioner has no locus standi to challenge the security cover provided to Mukesh Ambani and his family members by the State after duly evaluating the threat inputs.
The bench noted that the apex court earlier also said that applicant Saha had no locus standi to challenge the security cover provided to the Ambanis and rejected his pleas twice, yet he has filed a similar plea, which is not only frivolous but also vexatious.
“We will again reiterate the petitioner (Saha) has no locus seeking prayer to withdraw security cover granted by the Union of India and State of Maharashtra to the respondents. The petitioner has not produced any material that there is any significant change in the security perception. We refuse to entertain this application, observing that Z plus security cover offered to the respondents will continued to be given. We warn the petitioner to not to indulge in similar exercise in future, failing which this court shall consider imposing exemplary cost,” the bench said, Livelaw reported.
Saha, who sought periodic reassessment of the security threat to the Ambanis, filed the present application in an appeal filed by the Centre against the interim directions of the Tripura High Court directing for production of files of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) relating to the security cover given to Mukesh Ambani and his family.
The High Court passed two interim orders on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Saha and had earlier directed the Centre to place before it the original file maintained by the MHA regarding threat perception and assessment report of the Ambanis on the basis of which security was granted to them.
The Supreme Court later stayed the High Court order after the Centre challenged the High Court order and later in an order passed in February 2022, the apex court directed the Centre to provide Z+ security cover to Mukesh Ambani and his family across the country as well as abroad and said that cost for providing security is to be borne by Ambanis.
