Ahmedabad, 18 July 2013

The Gujarat High Court today rejected tainted IPS officer Satish Verma’s plea seeking recall of the high court order for fresh investigation into three alleged custodial death cases of Porbandar.

On April 18 last year, the HC had asked ADGP (law & order) to conduct a probe and submit a report on the death of three people in 1996-97 when Verma was posted as Porbandar SP.

The HC had ordered a fresh investigation last year on a petition filed by Hiralal Shial. His brother Jasu Gagan Shial, and another person, Aher Ranmal Ram, were killed in police encounters while Aher Narayan Jesti Bandhiya was found dead, hanging from a tree beside a police station. Bandhiya was on police remand at the time but the police had claimed that he had escaped.

Earlier, in 1998 too the high court had ordered the then IGP of CID (crime), Hiralal, to inquire into these deaths on the basis of a PIL filed by the Action Committee for Prevention of Police Atrocities. Verma was accused of resorting to encounters to liquidate people after branding them as hardcore criminals. Hiralal was asked to find out whether a cognizable offence could be made out. The inquiry’s tenure was extended twice by the high court.

When the issue came up before the high court again, the documents of the earlier litigation were found missing. The court ordered an inquiry into the missing documents and finally ordered a probe by the ADGP into the alleged custodial deaths.

Verma moved to high court requesting the court to recall its 2012 order on several grounds.