From Express Archives: R V S Mani affidavits tell how he was ‘coerced’

Watch Video | Ishrat Jahan Fake Encounter Case: All You Need To Know

Mani suggested that then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram was behind the decision to file the second affidavit. He alleged that the then SIT chief, a CBI official, was after him and an attempt was made to question the quality of professional inputs by the intelligence agencies on Ishrat and other terrorists.

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His remarks came at a time when two former home secretaries claimed the second affidavit was filed in the Supreme Court at the behest of the then Home minister P Chidambaram.

Here’s some of our reportage in the Ishrat Jahan case

July 11, 2013: Ishrat Jahan case: Was coerced to sign statements by CBI, alleges RVS Mani

Requesting that his statements to CBI be recorded in the presence of the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) or his authorised representative or a lawyer, former under secretary (internal security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), R V S Mani, has reportedly sought MHA’s intervention for having been “coerced” to sign statements by CBI. Mani lodged a complaint against Gujarat IPS officer Satish Verma who was part of CBI probe in the encounter killing till June 24.

When contacted, Verma said, ““I don’t know what is the complaint, when was it made and to whom. I am not interested to know. I can’’t speak to press in such matters. So, ask CBI.”” Read more

July 12, 2013: Govt to probe ex-MHA official’s claim

The Centre is set to launch a probe into the allegations made by R V S Mani, former Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official, in connection with the Ishrat encounter case. Mani, now an under secretary with the urban development ministry, had written to his seniors there that he was coerced to give statement by a senior police official assisting the CBI probe. The home ministry recently received the letter.

Mani has complained that he was summoned to Gujarat by SIT member and IPS officer Satish Verma last month and was asked to make statements with twisted facts. Read more

July 18, 2013: Never claimed Parliament House attack, 26/11 inside job: Ex-MHA official

In this report, Mani had claimed that he was called for questioning in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case on June 22 and Satish Verma of the SIT tried to make him indict one of his senior officers in the home ministry. Read more

August 13, 2013: Citing harassment, official who filed Ishrat affidavits seeks to quit

Former home ministry official R V S Mani, who signed the two affidavits in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case in 2009, applied for voluntary retirement on Monday, citing harassment from unknown quarters, his lawyer said.

Mani, who is presently with the Ministry of Urban Development, had written a letter to his seniors in July saying that he was being pressured by Satish Verma, IG of the Special Investigation Team (SIT),to sign a statement saying that the first affidavit in the Ishrat case, filed by the home ministry in 2009, had been drafted by two IB officers. Read more

12 September, 2014: ‘Chased’ by CBI for refusing to frame seniors, former MHA official tells SC

R V S Mani, said in his affidavit that he was “mentally and administratively harassed continuously” after he filed a note in June 2013. In this note, he disclosed he was allegedly coerced by Gujarat cadre IPS officer Satish Chandra Verma — who was a part of the CBI-SIT team probing the fake encounter case — to sign a false statement to implicate his seniors.

“I state that from the very beginning viz the deponent (Mani) placing the above referred note in the official records till now, the deponent was continuously called, chased and stalked by many senior CBI officers, including one senior-level IPS officer recently posted in the CBI,” read his affidavit, which would be taken up by the court Friday. Read more

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