Ahmedabad: A local court here on Wednesday reserved
the order on bail plea of the suspended and arrested IPS
officer Sanjiv Bhatt till October 17.
Sessions Judge V K Vyas, after hearing the arguments of
special public prosecutor S V Raju and Bhatt's advocate I H
Syed, reserved the order on bail till October 17.
During the hearing, which was stretched over a week's
period, Bhatt's advocate Syed contended that his client's
arrest was politically motivated.
He argued that the arrest was also aimed at getting hold
of and destroying the alleged evidence he had against Gujarat
chief minister Narendra Modi with regard to the 2002 communal
riots.
Syed had further contended that the complaint, on which
Bhatt was arrested, was false and was filed with an ulterior
motive, at the behest of some political functionaries and
senior police officers.
He had said that the complainant K D Pant, who had
alleged that Bhatt had threatened him and forced him to sign
false affidavits, appeared to be acting as a ploy at the
dictates of political members of the state government.
Syed said that most of the sections of IPC, under which,
Bhatt was charged were bailable and should be given bail.
State government's senior counsel Raju, while opposing
Bhatt's bail contended that Bhatt did not deserve bail, as he
was a habitual offender with criminal antecedents.
To support his claims, Raju highlighted other criminal
cases against him in various courts, which included case of
police torture in custody registered in 1994 in Porbandar, and
a case under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS)
Act, which is pending against Bhatt in Pali, Rajasthan since
1996.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, October 12, 2011, 14:15