SC stays for one week dismissal order of IPS officer who probed Ishrat Jahan encounter
Sep 19, 2022
New Delhi [India], September 19 : The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre that the dismissal order of Gujarat cadre IPS officer Satish Chandra Verma, a senior IPS officer who had assisted the CBI in its probe into the alleged fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan in Gujarat, will not be effected for one week.
A bench of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy asked Delhi High Court to decide if the stay is to be extended beyond a week or not.
Supreme Court further said that it is for Verma to take appropriate steps for amending the petition pending before the Delhi High Court to challenge the order of his dismissal.
1986-batch Gujarat cadre IPS Verma was dismissed from the service on August 30, a month before his scheduled retirement on September 30.
The Delhi High Court, while hearing a plea by Verma, directed the Union Home Ministry not to implement the dismissal order till September 19 so that he could approach a higher court to get relief.
The senior police officer was last posted as inspector general with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Tamil Nadu.
If the dismissal of Verma comes into effect, he will not be entitled to pension and other benefits.
Verma had probed the Ishrat Jahan case between April 2010 and October 2011 and on the basis of his investigation report, it had been found that the encounter was a fake one. The Gujarat High Court later directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the case and avail Verma's services.
Verma approached the top court after the High Court allowed the Home Ministry to take action against him in the view of a departmental inquiry that proved the charges against him, including interacting "with public media" when he was chief vigilance officer of the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation, Shillong.
On August 30, the High Court had said that the disciplinary proceedings against Verma shall not be implemented without the court's permission if it is prejudicial to him.
Following this High Court's order, the Centre again moved the High Court seeking its permission to impose the disciplinary action to dismiss Verma from service. The High Court permitted the Centre to implement the order but not before September 19.
