The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government over the shootout at a Bijnor courtroom, ordering the state police chief and a top bureaucrat to appear before it.
Three assailants had on Tuesday opened fire in the court of Bijnor's chief judicial magistrate, killing a murder accused and injuring three others two policemen and a court employee.
A two-judge bench said the most incompetent police personnel are being posted at the courts, adding that it will seek the deployment of central forces if the state government is not up to the task.
The police, meanwhile, suspended 18 of its personnel for the security lapse.
Facing flak over the attack in the Vidhan Sabha, the government also announced a series of measures to prevent such incidents from taking place again.
In the assembly, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the attack was unfortunate and such incidents will not be tolerated.
The High Court asked Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi and Director General of Police O P Singh to appear before it on Wednesday and brief it on plans to strengthen security on courts premises. Awasthi heads the state's home department.
"It seems there is complete failure of law and order inside court premises in the state. The most incompetent police professionals are deployed for security of court premises in the state, Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Justice Suneet Kumar said in their order.
Is the government serious about court security? Are top officials even aware about the incidents which happened in recent past in different courts of Uttar Pradesh?" the bench added.
The judges told the state's additional advocate general that strengthening court security at courts has been a concern since 2008 but not much has been done about it.
If the state government cannot provide adequate security on court premises, then we will ask the central government to deploy central forces for it, the HC said.
It recalled two other attacks in recent months -- on an undertrial in Muzaffarnagar and another on a woman lawyer in Agra.
They show that criminals are so fearless in the state that they are now entering courtrooms and killing people," the bench added.
In the Bijnor court, assailants had shot at two accused in the murder of a property dealer and local Bahujan Samaj Party leader Haji Ehsaan and his nephew Shadab on May 28.
One of the accused was killed while the other fled during the commotion. Police said the victim's son was among the three arrested after the attack.
On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police O P Singh issued directives to senior police officers to ensure security at the courts.
Visitors should be frisked for firearms and vehicles of only court employees allowed inside, a statement said.
Relatives will not be allowed to meet undertrials on court premises, it added.
The DGP also directed drills and surprise checks to ensure security on court premises and at the homes of judges.
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