The Uttar Pradesh government on September 13, 2020, announced that a special security force will be constituted for the state and issued a notification for the formation of the Uttar Pradesh Special Security Force (UPSSF).
The UP government, in a series of tweets quoting additional chief secretary (Home), UP on Sunday, stated that the road map towards the constitution of UPSSF has been sought from the director general of police, UP.
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath had on June 26 announced the formation of the special force which would provide security to vital infrastructures including metro rail, airports, industrial institutions, courts, banks and other financial institutions.
The constitution of the UPSSF comes in the view of an Allahabad High Court order which had expressed displeasure over the security at civil courts in the state last December. The force will be accorded sweeping powers.
On September 13, a tweet in Hindi from the official Twitter handle of UP government stated 'Uttar Pradesh Special Protection Force Act 2020 has been implemented in the state. @dgpup Has been directed to make effective implementation of this force, sending a copy of this Act on September 11, 2020: ACS, Home and Information, Shri @AwasthiAwanishK'.
BOOM rounds up the important points that you need to know about the UPSSF.
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What Is UPSSF?
Being constituted on lines of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the UPSSF will be given the responsibility to provide security to important government buildings, offices and infrastructure in UP. Members of the UPSSF will be deployed at important places including courts, airports, metro rails, industries and other financial institutions.
The force will be headquartered in the state capital Lucknow and an additional director general (ADG) level officer will head the UPSSF.
The additional chief secretary said that five battalions will be formed in the first phase as Special Protection Force and a total of 1,913 new posts will be created for the formation of these battalions. The expenses incurred in the first phase will be around Rs 1,747 crore which includes salary allowances and other arrangements, Awasthi said.
Powers
UP government has quoted Awasthi stating that the members of this force can make arrests without a magisterial order or warrant.
The tweet, in Hindi, translates to 'A member of the force may arrest a person without any order of a magistrate and without any warrant (the manner of the powers exercised under this section shall be governed by the rules prescribed in this behalf.): ACS, Home & Information, Sh @AwasthiAwanishK'.
(Hindi:बल का कोई सदस्य किसी मजिस्ट्रेट के किसी आदेश के बिना तथा किसी वारण्ट के बिना किसी व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार कर सकता है (इस धारा के अधीन प्रयोग की जाने वाली शक्तियों की रीति इस निमित्त विहित नियमावली द्वारा शासित होगी): ACS, गृह व सूचना, श्री @AwasthiAwanishK जी |)
Another tweet from the UP government said that the 'force will also have the power to search without warrant' adding that separate rules for this section would be framed.
Why UPSSF?
According to news reports, the proposal for constituting a special force comes on the direction of the Allahabad High Court after incidents of violence on court premises in UP were reported last year.
A report published in The Outlook on December 18, 2019 states that the Allahabad High Court had pulled up the UP government over a shootout at a Bijnor courtroom and had ordered the state police chief and additional chief secretary to appear before it.
The report further mentions that a two-judge bench had said that 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.
On December 17, 2019, a murder accused had been shot dead inside a courtroom in UP's Bijnor.
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