Vikas Bansode

Bangalore-based self-described Supreme Court advocate Vikas Bansode, legal advisor to former Karnataka governor HR Bhardwaj, has had his Z-class security cover renewed and upgraded to Z-plus level “for an indefinite period” on 24 January by the local police, reported the Bangalore Mirror.

Bansode, who was nearly appointed legal advisor to an SIT looking into illegal mining after Bhardwaj’s resignation, apparently enjoys the same security cover as Karnataka’s chief minister and governor - including eight 24-hour guards, some of whom are armed, two police vehicles with a driver and three security personnel, co-ordinated by a reserve sub-inspector, costing around Rs 1.5 crore per year - according to the Mirror.

Trouble is, police declined to tell the Mirror why Bansode was awarded this privilege by a high-powered committee of cops and the state’s chief secretary Kaushik Mukherjee.