E-Paper
IPS officer Satish Chandra Verma, who once probed Isharat Jahan encounter, sacked
The Delhi high court, which allowed the Centre to take action against Satish Chandra Verma, ordered that the decision will come into effect from September 19 to give the IPS officer time to file an appeal
NEW DELHI: The Centre has sacked Gujarat cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Satish Chandra Verma, who was once part of the special investigation team that probed Ishrat Jahan encounter case. The 1986-batch officer was dismissed based on the departmental proceedings against him, people familiar with the development said.
The Delhi high court, which was told about the government decision to sack Verma on August 30 during a hearing into his plea against the departmental proceedings, has allowed the order to dismiss the senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer to come into effect from September 19 to enable him to file an appeal.
Verma was due to retire on September 30.
“We still have time till September. We have approached the Supreme Court,” Verma’s lawyer Sarim Naved said.
In his petition to the Supreme Court, Verma, who is posted in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 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 including talking to the media.
As Ishrat case probe officer, Verma filed an affidavit in the Gujarat high court in 2011 that the 19-year-old Ishrat was killed in a fake encounter in June 2004 along with three men believed to be linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
When the Ishrat case was transferred to CBI, Verma continued to be associated with the probe team on the directions of the Gujarat high court.
