Zeenews Bureau
Ahmedabad: A Sessions Court here on Wednesday deferred the hearing on arrested IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt’s bail plea till October 7 (Friday). The court began hearing the plea but had to defer it as the judge was not available post lunch session.
The hearing will resume on Friday at 3.00 pm.
The judge had earlier in the day rejected the Gujarat government’s application against Bhatt and decided to go ahead with hearing his bail plea.
Sessions Judge VK Vyas rejected the government’s plea that the police’s remand application be heard first before a decision is taken on Bhatt’s bail plea.
The Gujarat government had opposed the hearing on the grounds that Bhatt's revision remand application was pending.
The judge said he was of the opinion that Bhatt's bail application should be heard, even if the remand application was pending in another court.
The revision remand application too comes up for hearing on Friday, though in another court and in the first half.
Bhatt was arrested on September 30 in connection with an FIR filed against him by police constable KD Pant in June for allegedly threatening him and making him sign false affidavits regarding a meeting called by Chief Minister Narendra Modi on February 27, 2002, hours after the Godhra train carnage.
Meanwhile, a team of Intelligence Bureau will visit Bhatt’s residence in Gujarat to assess his family’s security needs.
The team would also have a member from the National Investigation Agency.
The development comes after Bhatt’s wife wrote to Home Minister P Chidambaram, saying Bhatt faced threat to his life from a ‘vindictive Gujarat government’.
The Home Ministry had yesterday written to the Gujarat government, asking it to ensure Bhatt and his family’s security.
First Published: Wednesday, October 05, 2011, 09:10