Delhi HC denies stay on termination of Gujarat IPS officer Chandra’s service

The court, however, gave the Union government eight weeks’ time to respond to Gujarat cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) Satish Chandra Verma’s petition against his termination order

The Delhi high court on Monday refused to stay the termination order of Satish Chandra Verma, the Gujarat cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who was part of the special investigation team that probed Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

Refusing to stay his dismissal, a bench of justices Sanjeev Sachdeva and Tushar Rao Gedela, while hearing Verma’s plea against the termination order on Monday, gave eight weeks to the Centre to respond to the petition.

The court, however, gave the Union government eight weeks’ time to respond to the officer’s petition against his termination order.

The 1986-batch officer was dismissed on August 30, a month before his scheduled retirement, by the Union government after he was found guilty of various charges, including interacting with the media “which had dented the country’s international relations”.

On September 19, the Supreme Court kept in abeyance for a week Verma’s dismissal order and left it to the Delhi high court to consider whether to stay it or not.

Refusing to stay his dismissal, a bench of justices Sanjeev Sachdeva and Tushar Rao Gedela, while hearing Verma’s plea against the termination order on Monday, gave eight weeks to the Centre to respond to the petition.

The court said it is not in dispute that Verma had given an interview to a news channel pertaining to the aspects which were not within the sphere of his duties at the time of the interview. The bench added that the interview pertained to aspects which were sub-judice.

“We are of the view that at this stage the order of termination dated August 30, 2022 does not warrant any interference as petitioner is to superannuate, in any event, on September 30,” the court said. “Consequently, we are not inclined to stay or inter or interdict the order of dismissal dated August 30 at this stage.”

It clarified that in case the petitioner is successful in the writ petition, he shall be entitled to all consequential benefits of his superannuation in accordance with rules.

Senior advocate Sudhanshu Batra, appearing for Verma, told the court that the interview was given in compelling circumstances, and added that the contents of the interview have not been proved in accordance with law.

The matter would be heard on January 24, 2023.

Earlier, the high court had cleared the way for Verma’s sacking while giving him till September 19 to file an appeal.

Verma moved the apex court against the order and said, “The impugned order (of Delhi high court) has allowed the Union of India to pass an order that may result in the petitioner’s dismissal from service with retrospective effect (even though he superannuates on September 30, 2022), which is not permissible as per statutory rules governing the members of the All India Services.”

The ministry of home affairs (MHA) had issued a charge memo to Verma in September 2018 alleging that although he was relieved from the post of Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of NEEPCO (North Eastern Electric Power Corporation) in July 2016, he failed to handover the files and kept them in personal custody for a long time. Other charges against him also included talking to the media.

As Ishrat Jahan case probe officer, Verma filed an affidavit in the Gujarat high court in 2011 that the 19-year-old Jahan was killed in a fake encounter in June 2004 along with three men believed to be linked to the proscribed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

When the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation, Verma continued to assist the federal agency in its probe on the directions of the Gujarat high court.