SC stays probe against Satish Verma in Porbandar case
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- Current News
- Tuesday, 19 June 2012 08:06
- Published on Tuesday, 19 June 2012 18:06
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Gujarat Global News Network, Ahmedabad
IPS officer Satish Verma has beaten the Gujarat Government once again at the legal cat and mouse going on between them. Acting on Verma’s special leave petition, the Supreme Court stayed the Gujarat high court’s direction to investigate the 1996 encounters in Porbandar when Verma was the SP there.Â
In his petition, Verma has claimed that the government suppressed material and the petition was filed to pressure him in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case. The case pertains to investigation in deaths of Jasu Gagan Shial and Aher Ranmal Ram in police encounter and Aher Narayan Jesti Bandhiya, who was found dead hanging on a tree beside a police station. The third person was on police remand then and allegedly committed suicide.Â
In April, the HC asked ADGP of CID (crime) to probe the case after the documents related to earlier inquiry set up by the HC in 1998 — and done by the then IGP Hiralal — were found untraceable.Â
Verma, who was in the line of fire in this probe, moved the SC claiming that the state government, cops and lawyers all suppressed material evidence. Just three days after the HC ordered an inquiry into missing documents, he provided Ahmedabad CP the copy. The documents were further supplied to all concerned authorities, but no official told the court that they existed.Â
Verma’s counsel I H Syed contended that non-existence of inquiry report was projected by the government as non-compliance of the HC order, which was not the case and should not be the base for another investigation.
He also told the SC that the probe conducted by Hiralal had given a clean chit to him. The report was supplied to the HC, but it was lost and no effort was made to locate it. Verma has elaborately told the SC how the administration took up this case immediately after he aggressively initiated probe in the Jahan encounter case. He alleged that this exercise was done with a vengeance and to pressure him in the Ishrat case.Â
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