Will Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani’s family continue to get Z+ security? Supreme Court orders…

The Supreme Court has directed to provide the highest level of Z-plus security to industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his family members all across India and abroad in February 2023. A litigant challenged the order and filed an application seeking to revoke the Z+ security cover given to Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman and his family. In a major development, the apex court on Friday rejected the plea and also warned the petitioner of repeatedly challenging the state security. 

The application was filed by one Bikash Saha seeking clarification concerning the Court's February 2023 order. The Court remarked that the applicant has no locus standi to challenge the security provided by the State after duly evaluating the threat inputs, and warned that any further proceedings will lead to the Court imposing exemplary costs on him, according to LiveLaw.in.

A bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan heard a plea. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who represented Ambanis argued that the petitioner had no locus standi, as the security was government-granted due to threat perception and the petitioner wasn't directly affected. He submitted that the petitioner had previously filed a PIL in Tripura, which the Court had set aside and now he was filing another application in a disposed matter.

To this, Justice Manmohan warned the petitioner against misusing the court's process, emphasising that security decisions are sacrosanct and based on state precautions. The court noted that the application was frivolous and vexatious, as it had already ruled that the petitioner lacked locus standi in the matter. The court directed that the security cover would continue and warned the petitioner against filing similar applications in the future, cautioning that exemplary costs might be imposed. Earlier, the court had ruled that the security cover, provided at the Ambanis' own expense, would not be restricted to Mumbai but would be available across India and abroad.

This is not the first time that the apex court has had to deal with similar petitions. Earlier, a PIL by one Himanshu Agarwal filed in the Bombay High Court in 2019 seeking the withdrawal of security cover to the Ambanis was dismissed. An appeal against that order was also turned down by the apex court in October 2020.