In a firm stand on Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed yet another petition challenging the Z-plus security provided to industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his family, calling the attempt “vexatious” and cautioning the petitioner against misusing judicial time.
The bench, comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan, pulled up petitioner Bikash Saha for filing a fresh plea despite the apex court’s earlier rulings that he had no legal standing in the matter. The court reiterated that security assessments are an executive function, not a judicial one, and emphasized that such decisions are best handled by the government.
"The petitioner has no wherewithal nor has shown any material to show that there is any change in the security threat to the private respondent," the court observed while dismissing the case.
During the proceedings, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Ambani family, criticized the petition as nothing more than targeted harassment. “How is this person concerned with assessing the security threat?” he questioned, underscoring that such matters are based on classified assessments by authorized agencies.
The court sternly warned Saha that any further attempt to raise the issue would invite exemplary costs. “We caution the petitioner not to indulge in any similar exercise in the future,” the bench stated.
Saha’s counsel had argued that the threat perception should be reviewed periodically and that there was public interest involved. However, the bench dismissed this line of reasoning, saying, “Is this our domain? Who are you to assess threat perception? If something happens tomorrow, will you take responsibility?”
The Supreme Court also recalled its own July 2022 order, where it had upheld the Ambani family’s entitlement to central security and shut down a similar PIL before the Tripura High Court — again filed by the same petitioner. The court then had acknowledged that the Ministry of Home Affairs had assessed the Ambanis' threat perception thoroughly and had provided Z-plus cover for Mukesh Ambani and Y-plus for his wife, Nita Ambani.
