Bhatt moves Guj HC to quash complaint against him

Suspended Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt has approached the Gujarat high court to quash a complaint filed against him for allegedly furnishing a false information with intention to evade summons. The petition filed on Tuesday is likely to come up for hearing next week.

Bhatt in his petition has contended that the complaint was baseless and hence needed to be quashed and the inquiry ordered by the magistrate be stopped. The complaint was filed in the local court last month by ACP N C Patel, who is investigating officer in another case against Bhatt in which the latter is accused of threatening and illegally confining police constable K D Pant.

Based on the complaint filed by Patel, additional chief judicial magistrate B G Doshi had ordered an inquiry into the matter and issued summons to Bhatt asking him to remain present in the court today. However, advocates Manish Oza and Mahesh Baria sought time from the court on behalf of Bhatt, who was out of station, and requested for another date.

Agreeing to their request, the court adjourned the hearing in the case till December 5. Patel alleged in his complaint that Bhatt was issued summons to remain present before him on September 30 but did not turn up and instead wrote a letter saying he was supposed to appear before the Nanavati Commission probing the 2002 riots case.

Patel further said he probed if Bhatt appeared before the judicial panel, which revealed that the officer neither deposed before the commission nor was asked to do so.

On the basis of the information, Patel filed a complaint against Bhatt under sections 172 (absconding to avoid service of summons) and 177 (furnishing false information) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), in the court of the additional chief judicial magistrate B G Doshi.

Bhatt was arrested on September 30 in connection with a first information report filed against him by the police constable K D Pant for allegedly threatening, wrongfully confining and restraining him and forcing him sign a false affidavit.

The affidavit was in connection with Bhatt's presence at the February 27, 2002 meeting called by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi after the Godhra train burning incident.

Bhatt, who had alleged complicity of Modi in the 2002 riots, was granted bail by a local court here on October 17.