“SPG Bill will restore its original intent,” Amit Shah defends amendment

Amid uproar over the amendment to the Special Protection Group (SPG) Act, 1988 and the recent withdrawal of top level SPG cover to the Gandhi family, Home Minister Amit Shah told the Lok Sabha today that the SPG (Amendment) Bill 2019 will restore the law’s original intent to protect only the Prime minister and former Prime minister.

He also accused the previous governments of “diluting” the original Act by past amendment.

According to the proposed amendment, the SPG commandos will protect only the Prime Minister; and former Prime Ministers and their families will not get the coveted SPG security cover.

The SPG, an elite force of 3,000, is now tasked with protecting only Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The amendment states that the period of protection for former prime ministers and their immediate families will be capped at five years when in the past it could be extended based on threat perception.

While introducing the SPG (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the lower House on Monday, Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said in the existing Act there is no cut-off period for the SPG cover.

“In such a scenario, there can be severe constraint on resources, training and related infrastructure of the SPG. This can also impact the effectiveness of the elite force in providing adequate cover to the principle protectee,” the bill says.

But the Congress is demanding that SPG cover should be provided to former prime ministers and their family members for the rest of their lives.

“Security is provided on the basis of a threat perception and assessment. Based on the security assessment, a level of cover is provided – be it X or X+, Y or Y+, Z or Z+ and so on. But my question is that is a threat assessment 100% accurate? Can there not be an incident despite of the security assessment?” – Congress leader Manish Tewari asked.

He added that in countries such as the US, Secret Service guards former Presidents for the rest of their lives.

Earlier this month, the SPG cover to the Gandhi family – Sonia Gandhi and her children, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was withdrawn.

The government had said that the decision was based on a “reassessment” of their threat perception.

All three Gandhi family members now have Z+ category security. Z+ security means each of the Gandhis will be guarded by around 100 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

The move provoked a furious response with party leaders accusing the centre of “playing with the lives” of the Gandhis. The Gandhi family, which has seen the assassination of two members, has always been among India’s most protected.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s SPG cover was withdrawn in August.

The SPG was set up in 1985 for the security of prime ministers after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her security guards a year before.

After the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, the SPG Act was amended to provide security to former prime ministers and their families for 10 years.

In 2003, the Vajpayee government amended the law again to bring down the automatic protection for 10 years to one year — or more depending on the level of threat as decided by the centre.

During the Vajpayee regime, the SPG cover of former PMs such as HD Deve Gowda, IK Gujaral and PV Narasimha Rao were withdrawn.

However, Vajpayee himself enjoyed SPG protection until his death last year. Under the current SPG Act, family members of an incumbent or former PM can decline security cover. Manmohan Singh’s daughters declined SPG cover after his tenure ended.

The SPG is highly trained in physical efficiency, marksmanship, combat and proximate protection tactics and is assisted by all central and state agencies to ensure foolproof security. The SPG offers an Advance Liaison Team that screens places that the protectees will visit.

— India Legal Bureau