MUMBAI, June 16 -- The Maharashtra government on Monday informed the Bombay High Court that two highly qualified police security officers (PSOs) have been deployed for the protection of retired judge Gautam Patel and his family, who have been threatened with death over his landmark 2024 judgement settling a dispute over the spiritual head of the Dawoodi Bohra community. Public prosecutor Shishir Hiray, appearing for the government, informed a bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad that two police officers would be present with Justice Patel and his wife, based in Mumbai, at all hours. The security plan was being prepared and would be placed on record, Hiray said. The bench said it would "appreciate if the commissioner of police (Mumbai) personally looked into this matter" and emphasised the need for round-the-clock security at the retired judge's residence. The court also directed the central government to submit a detailed status report on steps taken for the protection of the retired judge and his family. "We would appreciate it if the Union of India gives us a complete picture of steps that have been taken for protecting them", the division bench said. The court was hearing Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Bombay Bar Association (BBA) seeking constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT), with sleuths from Maharashtra Police, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), to probe instances of harassment and violence against the retired judge and his family. The judgement that sparked a spate of attacks was delivered on April 23, 2024, when Justice (retd) Patel dismissed the Taher Fakhruddin-led Qutbi Bohra faction's suit challenging the elevation of Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin as the supreme leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community. After the court affirmed Syedna Saifuddin as the rightful 53rd Dai-al-Mutlaq, the Fakhruddin faction filed an appeal before a division bench of the high court. As first reported in HT on June 8, justice Patel and his family have since faced multiple instances of threats and violence, the most recent being on June 5, when his daughter in London received an anonymous letter that threatened the family with death. The assailants want the retired justice to retract the verdict, upload a video on YouTube saying he was coerced into issuing the order. The PIL filed by the BBA said failure to address the issue adequately and promptly would diminish and weaken the majesty and dignity of constitutional courts and create fear in the minds of judicial officers. During the hearing on Monday, senior counsel Nitin Thakker, president of the BBA, sought a direction to the police department to hold the investigation under judicial supervision and constitute an SIT. "A message has to go out that such threats, if at all true, will not be tolerated. This is not a threat just to retired justice Patel, but it's a threat to the judiciary as a whole," he said....