Patna: Bihar Judicial Services Association (BJSA) on Tuesday urged the state govt to provide at least one personal security officer (PSO) or bodyguard to every serving judicial officer below the rank of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), citing heightened security risks.In a letter to the principal secretary (home), BJSA secretary Ajit Kumar Singh sought an early review of the state govt’s May 2, 2017 resolution, which bars the allotment of bodyguards to judicial officers below the CJM rank. Singh said the govt should make the bodyguard allotment process more inclusive.The association said Judicial Magistrates perform duties comparable to CJMs under the decentralised system, in which cognisance powers have been distributed and police stations assigned among magistrates. It argued that protection should not depend solely on designation when the risk flows from judicial functions.Singh also highlighted the growing number of women officers in Bihar judiciary, most of whom serve as Civil Judge Junior Division and Civil Judge Senior Division. Under the existing resolution, they are not entitled to bodyguards. The letter said the policy needs reconsideration in view of the state’s push to increase women’s representation in govt jobs and its decision to open more courts in subdivisions.The association said many officers still commute from district headquarters to subdivisional courts because of infrastructure constraints, leaving them vulnerable during travel and at postings where security arrangements are limited.BJSA said Junior Magistrates routinely handle accused persons, undertrial prisoners and litigants in sensitive criminal matters, including cases linked to organised crime, Maoists’ activities and other offences carrying security implications.It added that Additional CJMs and Judicial Magistrates of the First Class exercise cognisance powers similar to those of CJMs and therefore face “no less substantial” security risks.
