HC judge refuses to hear addl DGP’s plea

In his petition,Pandey has sought to quash the complaint registered by CBI in the case.

The petition was listed for hearing before the bench of Justice S R Brahmbhatt,who recused himself since he,as a lawyer in the past,had represented police officer D G Vanzara,an accused in the case.

The petition will be assigned to another bench for hearing by the Chief Justice.

Pandey had moved a similar plea before the Supreme Court,which dismissed it while giving him liberty to approach the HC.

Pandey,a 1982-batch Gujarat-cadre IPS officer,was the joint commissioner of police in Ahmedabad when Ishrat Jahan,her friend Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai and two others were killed in an allegedly staged police encounter on the city’s outskirts on June 15,2004. Police had claimed the four were LeT operatives on a mission to kill CM Narendra Modi.

In his petition,Pandey has claimed that as a senior police officer,he got intelligence inputs from the then police commissioner,K R Kaushik,about the movements and plans of the “terrorists” and passed it to his subordinate officers.

“The applicant,as joint commissioner of police,was entrusted only to administratively assist the commissioner of police. The operational and investigative work was carried out under the supervision of deputy commissioner of police ( D G Vanzara). The applicant was not involved in the day-to-day work and operation of the crime branch,” Pandey,who was with the detection of crime branch at the time of the encounter,has stated in his petition.

Pandey has also alleged that the present proceedings against him in the case have been initiated at the instance of Satish Verma,the Gujarat-cadre IPS officer who is assisting the CBI in the case under the orders of HC.

“…Verma has been jealous of the applicant’s achievements and since 2004-2005,he has been malafidely acting against the applicant to disrepute him,” Pandey has said in the petition.

According to Pandey’s petition,he had successfully detected a bomb after Verma failed to do so after which the latter grew jealous of him.