Senior IPS officer Satish Verma, who is currently assisting CBI in investigating the 2004 fake encounter of Isharat Jahan and three others, has moved the Gujarat High Court seeking recall of its order of fresh probe
against him in a 1996 case of unnatural deaths, in Porbander.
Verma has pleaded the court to recall its order, passed on April 18, 2012, directing Additional Director General of Police (Addl DGP) to investigate into the circumstances which led to the death of Jasu Gagan Shial, Aher Ranmal Ram and Aher Naran Jetsi Badhiya in 1996.
The 1986 batch IPS officer and Special IGP, who was posted as Principal, Police Training College, Junagadh, is now assisting the CBI in the Ishrat encounter case after he was relieved of his charge.
In 1996, when Verma was posted as Superintendent of Police in Porbandar district, two of these accused, who were under the custody of the district police died in retaliatory firing by cops when they tried to escape and one committed suicide the next day after he escaped from the custody.
A PIL was filed in January 1997, by Samji Ladha and four others on behalf of Action Committee for Prevention of Police Atrocities, claiming that all three accused were killed in a fake encounter and sought an independent inquiry into the killings and demanded action against the policemen, including Verma, allegedly responsible for their deaths.
A division bench of the High Court, on March 9, 1998, had directed then Special IGP, CID (Crime) Hiralal to investigate the matter and submit his report in six months time which was subsequently further extended by the court for further three months.
In 2011, nearly after the gap of more than 12 years, brother of Jasu Gagan Shial, had filed a petition enquiring about the compliance of the 1998 court order and what follow up action, if any, was taken.
During the hearing of this petition, the state government claimed that the report of the investigation carried out by Sp IGP, CID (Crime) Hiralal, has been missing from the government records and if it was submitted before the High Court it was destroyed as it was part of old records.
On this, court has, in its April 18, 2012 while directing a fresh investigation into the case of three deaths also directed Addl DGP to investigate into the circumstances in which the earlier report, prepared by Hiralal had disappeared.
Verma has challenged this order in the Supreme Court claiming that Gujarat High Court’s 1998 order was complied by Hiralal by submitting his report to the court and in it he has given a clean chit to the policeman.
He has also claimed that a copy of the report was available with him.
Apex court in its order dated May 3, 2013, while dismissing his petition, granted liberty to Verma to move the High Court within a week and also extended the stay it has earlier granted on the High Court’s order of the fresh investigations.
In his petition before the High Court, Verma has also sought to record the compliance of court’s 1998 order on the grounds that there were several evidence confirming the submission of investigation report by Hiralal.
Verma has been facing the heat from the state government since he took an aggressive stand in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case when he was a member of the SIT formed by the High Court.
—————————-PTI