New Delhi, Dec. 12: The government has told the Supreme Court it wouldn't be "feasible" to exempt all high court judges from airport security checks as they don't enjoy the level of protection that virtually precludes the possibility of dangerous items from being "introduced on board".

In an affidavit submitted on Friday, the Centre said only certain categories of VIPs were exempt from such pre-embarkation checks as they had round-the-clock government security coverage.

Additional solicitor-general Pinky Anand and the Rajasthan government's additional advocate-general, Shamsherry Singh, made the submission before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur. The judge said the top court would pass appropriate orders.

In May 2005, Rajasthan High Court had directed the Union government to exempt all high court judges from pre-embarkation security clearance at airports on a par with other constitutional dignitaries, as judges also held a constitutional status.

While all Supreme Court judges are exempt from such checks, the exemption extends to only the chief justices of high courts, not the remaining 1,000-odd high court judges.

The apex court had stayed the high court's directive in January 2006. The matter has come up for hearing after more than a decade.

In its submission on Friday, the Centre said civil aviation operations were one of the most attractive targets for terrorists. "Adequate security measures are, therefore, required to be taken to prevent... untoward incidents in civil aviation operations in India," it said, adding the measures include "frisking of passengers and searching... their hand baggage before they are allowed to board".

The government said only certain categories of VIPs were exempt from such screening. Among them are the President, Vice-President, the Prime Minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Chief Justice of India, Supreme Court judges, high court chief justices, Union cabinet ministers, governors, lieutenant governors, chief ministers, ambassadors, chargé d'affaires, high commissioners and their spouses and the cabinet secretary apart from visiting dignitaries.

According to the government, the persons exempted from pre-embarkation checks must have such effective government security coverage that it would "virtually preclude the possibility" of any dangerous items from being introduced on board through their person or baggage.

As for ambassadors and other foreign dignitaries of equivalent status, it was a matter of reciprocity, the government said.

The Centre contended that all high court judges "do not have such level" of government security coverage. "It is therefore submitted with great respect that it would not be feasible to include the Hon'ble judges of the high court(s) in the list of exempted category of pre-embarkation security clearance at all civil airports across the country because of security considerations and the lack of government security coverage provided to the Hon'ble judges of the high court(s) on a 24x7 basis," the government said.#It also said the exempted list should be kept to a "bare minimum, or otherwise it would be counter-productive to the security measures at the airports".

Rajasthan High Court had passed the 2005 directive following a news report about a passenger carrying his licensed revolver and cartridges inside an aircraft before being detected.

The high court had taken cognisance of the report, converted the matter into a public interest litigation and asked why high court judges should not be exempt from pre-embarkation security checks.