Gujarat Court reserves order on remand revision of Sanjiv Bhatt

Ahmedabad: A local court on Tuesday reserved the order on Gujarat government's remand revision application of arrested IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, for October 7.

The state government had on Monday challenged in the sessions court here, a magisterial court order denying remand of Bhatt, arrested for allegedly threatening and forcing a constable to sign a false affidavit.

Sessions Judge GN Patel hearing the case reserved the order after hearing both the parties.

During the hearing Bhatt's lawyer IH Sayed contended that the revision remand application of the state government was not maintainable in law. He cited Supreme Court judgement which said that granting or rejecting of bail was an interlocutory order and there cannot be revision of that order as per section 397(2) of the CrPC.

Sayed said in view of the apex court judgement, the government application is not maintainable and should be rejected.

On the government side, public prosecutor Pravin Trivedi argued that the state government has right to seek revision of the remand once it is rejected.

After the order was reserved, Bhatt who was present in the court told the judge that he would like to assist it and remain present during pronouncement of the order. But he was told that his presence was not required. The judge also asked the jail authorities not to bring Bhatt on October 7.

Copy of affidavit circulated by Mallika Sarabhai not mine: Former IB chief

Ahmedabad: Distancing himself from the disclosures made by Mallika Sarabhai, former state Intelligence Bureau chief RB Sreekumar on Monday said the copy of affidavit handed over to media by the noted danseuse here was not his.

Challenging the veracity of the affidavit copy handed to media persons by Sarabhai, Sreekumar said, "Was the copy of so called affidavit circulated to media a certified copy taken out from the Nanavati commission?

"The copy of affidavit being circulated is not mine. Its content as told by Mallika Sarabhai to media could be true to some extent. I have submitted a 10-page affidavit to the Nanavati commission, which includes three annexures making it a 63 page document," he said. 

"The long and short of the story is that Gujarat chief minister had called a meeting and asked me to handover Rs10 lakh to Sanjiv Bhatt, so I handed over the money to him," he said.

"The chief minister and Sanjiv Bhatt were in direct communication, so I am not aware what happened," he added.

Earlier in the day, Sarabhai accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of using public funds to "bribe her lawyers" in an attempt to derail proceedings of the PIL filed in the Supreme Court by her in the 2002 communal riots case in the state.

She also handed over a three page document to media persons, claiming it to be the affidavit submitted by Sreekumar to GT Nanavati and Akshay Mehta Commission, probing the 2002 Gujarat riots, in support of her allegations.

Challenging the veracity of the affidavit copy handed to media persons by Sarabhai, Sreekumar said, "Was the copy of so called affidavit circulated to media a certified copy taken out from the Nanavati commission?

"The long and short of the story is that Gujarat chief minister had called a meeting and asked me to handover Rs10 lakh to Sanjiv Bhatt, so I handed over the money to him," he said.

"The chief minister and Sanjiv Bhatt were in direct communication, so I am not aware what happened," he added.

Earlier in the day, Sarabhai accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of using public funds to "bribe her lawyers" in an attempt to derail proceedings of the PIL filed in the Supreme Court by her in the 2002 communal riots case in the state.

She also handed over a three page document to media persons, claiming it to be the affidavit submitted by Sreekumar to GT Nanavati and Akshay Mehta Commission, probing the 2002 Gujarat riots, in support of her allegations.