New Delhi: Sacked IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt on Thursday asserted in the Supreme Court that the justice delivery system in Gujarat has collapsed and that he will not get a fair trial in the state if the complaint against him is probed by the state police.
Making this submission before a bench of Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra, senior counsel Indira Jaising, appearing for Mr Bhatt, maintained that only a probe by a special investigation team would bring about a fair trial.
Counsel said Mr Bhat had earlier filed a writ petition challenging the FIR filed against him by the Gujarat government and seeking transfer of the case to the CBI, and that with the change of situation at the Centre he no longer has faith even in the CBI and hence the allegations must be probed by a SIT.
Ms Jaising alleged that the said FIR had been lodged against Mr Bhat at the behest of the highest state functionaries, including the then chief minister of Gujarat, Mr Narendra Modi, in order to intimidate and deter him from disclosing sensitive information pertaining to the criminal nexus between state ministers, politicians, bureaucrats, senior police officials, government law officers and non-state actors, amongst others, to subvert the process of law and interfere with the administration of justice in the context of several cases relating to the Gujarat riots in 2002.
In particular, she said, Mr Bhatt was the sole witness to a meeting convened by the then CM, Mr Modi, on February 27, 2002, the day of the communal riots, when instructions were allegedly given to the state police not to take any action against the perpetrators of violence. She said Mr Bhat’s driver, who accompanied him to the place of the meeting, had already turned hostile and, except Mr Bhatt, everyone in the state denies that such a meeting was held. In particular the case against Mr Bhat was that he hacked the emails of Mr Tushar Mehta, the then advocate-general of Gujarat who is now the present ASG in the apex court. Counsel said that since the entire state machinery was used to scuttle the investigation in the riots cases, her client would not get justice if the FIR against him was probed by the state police. She said, “You (the state) hang me (Mr Bhat), but hang after a proper trial.”
