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Order on Sanjiv Bhatt's ‘status' put off

Manas Dasgupta

Nanavati-Mehta Commission examining application that Bhatt is ‘nobody's witness'

Summoned to elaborate claims of ‘personal knowledge' of Modi's encouragement of riots
“He has neither been administered an oath nor directed to file an affidavit”

AHMEDABAD: The G. T. Nanavati-Akshay Mehta judicial inquiry Commission has reserved its order till June 8 on the issue of deciding the “status” of the controversial Gujarat cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt who is being cross-examined by it.

The issue under contention is whether Mr. Bhatt should be treated as a “witness” or as an “informer” summoned by the Commission to throw light on his claims of alleged anti-minority statements having been made by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on the eve of the 2002 communal riots.

The cross-examination of Mr. Bhatt was suspended and the hearing adjourned on Wednesday due to an application filed by counsel for the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH), Krishnakant Vakharia, questioning the “status” of Mr. Bhatt. Mr. Vakharia sought to strike off Mr. Bhatt's depositions before the panel during his cross-examinations on May 16, 23 and 24, and requested that the Commission not permit any further cross-examinations by any of the parties appearing before it.

Mr. Vakharia contended that the panel must decide Mr. Bhatt's status since it was claiming that the IPS officer was “nobody's witness”. Mr. Bhatt, he said, was summoned by the probe panel only to furnish information about his claim of having attended the meetings held at the Chief Minister's residence on the night of February 27, 2002, and the subsequent days, and regarding his “personal knowledge” of Mr. Modi's having directed top police officers to “allow the Hindus to vent out their anger”. The application also pointed out that Mr. Bhatt was neither administered any oath before being cross-examined as contemplated under section 4(a) of the Commission of Inquiries Act, 1952, nor directed to file an affidavit, despite the Commission having the power, under the provisions of Section 5(2) of the Act, to demand that all and any relevant information be furnished.

The application claimed that in the absence of any affidavit from Mr. Bhatt, neither of the parties could cross-examine him.

Mr. Bhatt had himself moved a similar plea seeking a bar on his cross-examination until his status was decided. “I am neither being cross-examined by this Commission under the provisions of Section 4(a) of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, nor is the Commission seeking evidence from me on affidavit under the provisions of Section 4(c) of the Act. It would be improper to permit the continuance of cross-examination by parties [to] whom no such legal right accrues under the Act, especially when my affidavit in reference is pending before the Supreme Court.”

The State government pleader did not make any oral submissions on Wednesday but, as directed by the Commission, will file an affidavit in reply to Mr. Vakharia and Mr. Bhatt's applications by Thursday.

Mr. Bhatt has already been cross-examined by the advocates for the Jan Sangharsh Manch, — which represents the riot victims, — the Congress party, and the Central Relief Committee. The cross-examination by the State government pleader were in progress when the application to decide Mr. Bhatt's status was moved.

Praise from Sibal

Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal has given Mr. Bhatt an indirect pat on the back. Talking to journalists here, Mr. Sibal said that while the process of justice for the 2002 riots was “painfully slow,” the “kind of courage displayed by a police official to reveal the details of that period indicates that the soul of India has not died down”.

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