IPS officer withdraws HC case against Gujarat govt

Satish Verma, the IPS officer who came to limelight for investigating the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, on Friday withdrew his plea before the Gujarat High Court against the Gujarat government.

The state government had asked him to vacate his Ahmedabad-based government house as he has already been allotted an official residence at his current place of work in Shillong.

“We, on our own, approached the high court today (Friday) and said that we would approach the appropriate forum, which is the  Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), and seek an appropriate remedy. The court acceded to our request,” I H Syed, advocate for Satish Verma told DH.

Verma had been the lead investigating officer in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case which gave a charge sheet against seven senior policemen from the state, including in-charge DGP P P Pandey, IPS officer (retired) D G Vanzara, G L Singhal and four others.

Verma was appointed as the chief vigilance officer of North Eastern Electrical Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) at Shillong in August 2014, and had recently been transferred to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) with a posting in the Northeast. Currently, Verma’s family lives in the Ahmedabad flat that he was allotted in 2013, when he served as the IG in Gujarat Police.

Verma, in a special civil application, had stated that All-India Services Rules allow an officer to occupy two flats in case he is transferred to the Northeast. In recent past, Verma had also moved the CBI special court and the high court, seeking the certified charge sheet of the Ishrat Jehan case.