2 min readAhmedabadAug 8, 2014 03:02 PM IST
First published on: Aug 8, 2014 at 03:02 PM IST
In a relief to IPS officer Rahul Sharma, the Gujarat High Court on Friday ordered a stay on action against the officer by the state government in connection with six show-cause notices issued against him.
The division bench of Justice Akil Qureshi and Justice Mohinder Pal set aside the order of Ahmedabad bench of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) till August 13, when the matter will be heard further. The court has sought all the documents related to the case submitted before the CAT.
Sharma had moved three petitions in March before CAT challenging the chargesheet against him, six show-cause notices and adverse remarks on his Annual Confidential Report (ACR) that denied him promotion in December 2012.
Earlier this week, CAT had questioned the legality of chargesheet against Sharma while pointing out that a chargesheet against civil servants of IPS and IAS ranks should not only be approved by a Chief Minister, but also signed.
On this issue, the state has assured CAT that it will file a reply in September and if necessary it may issue a fresh chargesheet. On the issue of six show-cause notices, the CAT vacated the stay saying the state government had filed its reply.
“The High Court said (while granting stay) that they had not seen any case in which stay is vacated without the hearing of the matter on its merit. The court said that lifting a stay in the middle of the hearing is not permissible,” Sharma’s counsel IH Syed said.
Sharma, who is posted as commandant of State Reserve Police, Vadodara, has been at loggerheads with the Gujarat government since he deposed before the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) in 2011. Sharma has said in this petition that the government made adverse observations about him in his annual confidential report (ACR) as he provided crucial evidence in the form of CDs that helped in prosecution in the 2002 post-Godhra riots cases.
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