Security to 103 very important persons (VIPs) in the State is as per the ‘yellow book’, a secret document of the security arrangement of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said in his reply to opposition Voice of the People Party (VPP) legislator, Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit during the Question Hour today.
He said there are 103 VIPs in the different categories which include 2 under the Z+ category, 10 under the Z category, 19 Y category and 72 X category.
According to Sangma, the government follows the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines for security purposes. Stating that the security entitlements of protected persons is as per ‘Yellow Book’, a secret document of security arrangement, Sangma declined to reveal the VIPs who are given security cover as per the ‘Yellow Book’.
During the question hour, Basaiawmoit expressed concern over the misuse of tinted glass and sirens by VIPs and their associates.
“There are too many people who are behaving themselves as VIPs. Such people using tinted glasses sometimes are friends, relatives or business partners of those at the helm of affairs,” he said.
“It has become an eyesore and a menace to the public since some cars without number plates have tinted glass and sirens,” Basaiawmoit added.
The Nongkrem legislator said that the Supreme Court on April 27, 2012 has prohibited the use of tinted glass on vehicles beyond the permissible limit prescribed under the Motor Vehicles Act, saying its use was a social evil and helped criminals to escape from the clutches of law.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said the manufacturer may produce the vehicles with tinted glasses having Visual Light Transmission (VLT) of safety glasses windscreen (front and rear) as 70 per cent and side glasses as 40 per cent VLT, respectively.
The bench had directed the Home Secretary, as well as police heads of the respective states to ensure compliance with its direction, which would become operative May 4, 2012.
He said that the Supreme Court bench had also stated: “Use of these black films has been proved to be a criminal’s paradise and a social evil. This certainly helps the criminals to escape from the eyes of the police and aids in commission of heinous crimes like sexual assault on women, robberies, kidnapping etc. If these crimes can be reduced by enforcing the prohibition of law, it would further the cause of rule of law and public interest as well.”
However, Sangma assured the House that immediate action is taken whenever complaints have come to the notice of the government. “Even in my vehicle I don’t put black films,” he said.
