The Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha and Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge, has strongly objected to the presence of security personnel in the Well of the House, charging that the Opposition MPs were being prevented from raising issues.
Kharge wrote a letter to Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh in this regard last week, stating that “we are astonished and shocked at the manner in which CISF personnel are made to run into the well of the House when the members are exercising their democratic rights of protest”.
Congress general secretary and its chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh, alleged that “after the sudden and unprecedented resignation of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (Jagdeep Dhankhar), we are now seeing the takeover of the chamber of the Council of States by the personnel of the CISF”.
TMC Leader in the Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien, said the incident was “unprecedented”, and accused the NDA government of being “scared” of discussing in the House the Election Commission (EC)’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
In May 2024, the Parliament Security Service (PSS) was replaced by the CISF, a Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) which comes under the Union Home Ministry.
In June last year, DMK Rajya Sabha MP M Mohamed Abdulla had complained to then Chairman Dhankhar about “unprecedented misbehaviour” by the CISF personnel who had allegedly “questioned [him] on the purpose of [his] visit” to the Parliament complex on June 18.
How was Parliament security changed?
Security responsibilities in the Parliament complex had been with the PSS and the almost-100-year-old Watch and Ward committee. They had the training and experience required for the specialised job of securing a complex that is packed, when Parliament is in session, with almost 800 MPs, dignitaries, officials, and media personnel with sensitivity and competence.
Several MPs had expressed apprehension when this job passed to an armed force that was originally raised “for the better protection and security of industrial undertakings”.
The change was prompted by an extraordinary breach of security at Parliament House on December 13, 2023, when two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors’ gallery and set off a smoke canister.
When did CISF take over Parliament security?
In April 2024, the CISF personnel replaced the 150 personnel of the Delhi Police who were deployed at the complex alongside the PSS.
On May 13, 2024, the office of the Joint Secretary (Security), who heads the PSS, issued an order saying that a letter had been received from the DIG, CISF, that certain duties and facilities “may be handed over to the CISF” by specified dates up to May 20.
This included the checking of passes at the flap gates of all buildings in the complex and anti-sabotage checks; handing over of the dogs of the Dog Squad and control of CCTV control rooms; and control of vehicular access through Parliament’s gates.
The CISF’s letter came days after the Home Ministry had appointed a seven-member panel to assess whether the CISF should take over all aspects of security in the Parliament complex — from managing security arrangements to issuing passes, to regulating the movement of MPs, VIPs, officials, and the media. This committee, headed by CISF DIG Ajay Kumar, was asked to submit its view “at the earliest”.
The CISF is now responsible for the Central Pass Issuing Cell (CPIC) for both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha to issue radio frequency tags for vehicles and verify the character and antecedents of applicants. It also oversees access regulation for MPs, VIPs, senior government functionaries, positioning of staff at the various gates; regulation and coordination of VIP movement inside the complex; regulation of movement of stores in and out of the complex; maintenance of order in the complex, access control in the lobbies and movement regulation and discipline in the public galleries and press gallery; reception office, issue of temporary passes, and operation of gadgets in the complex; coordination with other security agencies, security arrangements during meetings and conferences, rehearsal of drills, security arrangements during Presidential addresses; Presidential and Vice- Presidential elections; and assistance and protection to the Chair.
Sources said the CISF is also in charge of security in lobbies, which include the chambers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and the main reception.
How Watch and Ward and PSS were created?
The Watch and Ward Committee was set up on the initiative of Vithalbhai Patel, who was then president (equivalent to today’s Speaker) of the Central Legislative Assembly, the lower house of legislature of British India. This followed the incident of April 8, 1929, when revolutionaries Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw two bombs and pamphlets in the Central Assembly and raised slogans “to make the deaf hear”.
According to an official document of Parliament, “this incident underlined the need for an exclusive and effective security arrangement for the Assembly” and, on September 3 that year, Patel constituted a committee “to formulate a scheme for creating a security service exclusively for the Central Legislative Assembly”.
The committee opined that a “security service should be created immediately to protect and guard the inner precincts of the Parliament House and to keep a vigil/ watch on the unauthorized activities inside Parliament”. The committee named this organisation ‘Watch and Ward’. The name continued until April 15, 2009, when it was changed to Parliament Security Service.
According to the Sectional Manual of Office Procedure published by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, “the main responsibility of Parliament Security Service is to provide and maintain Pro-active, Preventive and Protective Security measures within the Parliament House Complex, for safeguarding Members of Parliament, visitors and employees”.
The PSS personnel were credited with foiling the December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament. Two PSS personnel — Matbar Singh Negi and Jagdish Prasad Yadav — were killed, along with six Delhi Police personnel and a gardener in this attack.
Govt’s stance on row
Responding to the issue flagged by the Opposition members, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that some MPs moved “aggressively” in the House to prevent its proceedings, prompting marshals to prevent them as he asserted that it is not the government but for the respective Chair of the two Houses to take measures he deems fit.
Rijiju said the CISF personnel are part of the security apparatus after the incident of two intruders jumping into Lok Sabha and opening smoke canisters, adding that there have been cases of MPs even jumping over the secretariat table within the House.
He said he is eliciting information from the Rajya Sabha as to what happened exactly and assured the Opposition that he will consult the Chair if they have any issue.
Nothing will be done that comes in the way of MPs using their privilege or taking up their issues but they also have no right to prevent others from speaking and snatching the rights of other members, Rijiju said.
Asked about Kharge’s objections to the presence of CISF, the minister said that the security system has been updated after “some ugly incidents”. He said: “Certain decisions were taken. The administrative mechanism within the premises of Parliament is not under the government of India so I cannot exactly comment on what should be done.”