- An expert committee was constituted by Shri Rajesh Pilot, Hon’ble Minister of State for Internal Security, in March 1995. This committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Mr. Raja Vijay Karan, IPS (Retd.). former Director, CBI and Commander Omprakash ji, President, Security Association of India, Capt. Menon Sahi, Mr. K P Singh, Chief Security, Tata Steel, Jamshedpur, Mr. B K Mohanty, IPS (Retd.), Brig. S S Adhikari, Mr. R C Madan, Lt. Col. J S Paul, Mr. Pawanjeet Ahluwalia, and Mr. Anant Chari, IS (Retd.), former Director, BSF.
- There were special invitees from abroad. Mr. R H Poole from the U.K., Dr. Norman M., JD CPP, USA, Haji Rehmat Bin Ismail from Malaysia, Mr. Sombat Pim from Patiala, Thailand, Mr. Jairaj from Singapore, Mr. Bill Tomfret from Canada, and Mr. P Kalashree from Singapore.
- This Committee was constituted to bring the Private Security Agency (Regulation) & Licensing Bill 1994. The Draft Bill No. L-XXXVII/94 was submitted in Rajya Sabha. It was also submitted in Lok Sabha but was sent back for some amendments. The present Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act 2005 pertains to not all but some points.
- It is mainly because of the efforts made by SAI that the Central Government has passed the Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act 2005 (PSARA 2005). SAI is very active in Maharashtra.
It has taken up the matter of service tax, which should not be levied on the total bill charged to clients but on agency service charges only. It has filed a case with the Hon’ble Bombay High Court, and the case was admitted and is pending for a final hearing.
- The Security Association of India has been fighting the legal matter in the Hon’ble Bombay High Court and the Hon’ble Supreme Court for the implementation of PSARA 2005 and under Section 23 of the Maharashtra Private Security Guard (Regulation of Employment and Welfare) Act 1981. The exemption and registration of 46 security agencies were cancelled by the Maharashtra Government’s Labor Department, but SAI filed the Writ Petition in the Hon’ble Bombay High Court and got the order quashed.
- From 2005 onwards, on the request of the Police Authorities of Maharashtra, the SAI members are assisting the police by providing free security guards for the Ganpati Festival.
- The private security agencies were banned by the government of Maharashtra in 1981. The Security Association of India, under the Presidentship of Commodore Om Prakash VSM IN (Retd.), filed a Writ Petition in the High Court, Mumbai, and the matter went up to the Supreme Court, wherein Section 23 of the said Act was upheld by the Apex Court and the security guards could continue working in the security agencies and get exemption under the same section. Hence, it was a big success, so the security agencies continued their business.
- In September 2002, the Division Bench of the High Court in Bombay passed an order that the Security Agency must close down their business within five days. The Security Association of India, under the leadership of Gurcharan Singh Chauhan, approached the Supreme Court immediately, and the order of the Hon’ble High Court was stayed, and the security agencies continued their business.
- The exemption of 41 agencies was cancelled by the Government of Maharashtra. The Security Association of India, under the Presidentship of Gurcharan Singh Chauhan, and its member agencies filed a Writ Petition in the High Court, Mumbai, against this order and got it stayed. The Security Association of India filed a public interest lawsuit because there was no proper security in the High Court, Mumbai. After that, CCTV cameras and scanners were installed, and the police strength increased manifold.
- The Security Association of India filed a Writ Petition against the levy of service tax on the total amount received by the Security Agency, and the Writ Petition was admitted by the Humble High Court, Mumbai. The case is still pending in the High Court, Mumbai. The Security Association of India has taken up the service tax matter with the Director General of Service Tax, the Secretary of Finance, the Finance Minister, and the Prime Minister.
- The Security Association of India has written to the Home Secretary of all states in the country, requesting that they implement the Private Security Agency Act, 2005.
- After July 2006, no security agency was granted an exemption, and many security guard exemptions were not renewed, and the officials of the Security Guard Board started prosecuting the principal employers and security agencies. The Security Association of India filed a Writ Petition in the High Court, Mumbai, in 2007 and got a Stay Order that, till the applications are pending, no coercive action shall be taken against the security agencies and the principal employers by the Government of Maharashtra or the Security Guard Board.
- For the last many years, on the request of the Police Commissioner of Mumbai, the Security Association of India and its members have been providing more than 1000 security guards, free of charge, for Ganpati Pandals to assist the police authorities.
- The Security Association of India, along with the International Institute of Security and Safety Management, conducted a three-day Certified Professionals Course in Navi Mumbai.
- Under the guidance of the Security Association of India, the members have been issued licenses by the Controlling Authority of Maharashtra.
