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SC refuses stay on dismissal of IPS Verma, tells HC to expedite decision on plea
Satish Verma, who assisted in the Ishrat Jahan probe, approached the top court against an interim order passed by the Delhi high court by which the stay on his dismissal order granted till September 26 was not allowed to continue
The Supreme Court has refused to stay the government order dismissing Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Satish Chandra Verma who was due to retire on September 30 but told the Delhi high court to hear his request on November 22 and decide the case within three months.
Verma, who assisted in the Ishrat Jahan probe, approached the top court against an interim order passed by the Delhi high court by which the stay on his dismissal order granted till September 26 was not allowed to continue. As a result, the August 30 order passed by the Ministry of Home Affairs dismissing him took effect and the Centre replaced him with another IPS officer Maheshwar Dayal. The high court had posted the matter for hearing on January 24 next year.
A bench of justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy while refusing to interfere with the high court order said, “We are of the view that the impugned order of the Delhi high court must be modified to facilitate an earlier disposal of the petition (filed by Verma).” The bench directed the matter to be advanced from January 24 to November 22 this year and said, “We request the high court to dispose the matter as early as possible, preferably within a period of three months from November 22.”
Senior advocate IH Syed, appearing for Verma along with advocate Divyesh Pratap Singh, requested the top court to allow the officer an honourable exit. Verma claimed that he had a good case on merits to show that his dismissal was bad in law.
Verma said in his petition that the dismissal order was a possible “victimization” at the hands of the state government as he was instrumental in exposing the role of officers of the Intelligence Bureau and Gujarat Police behind the encounter killing of a 19-year-old girl Ishrat Jahan along with three men outside Ahmedabad in June 2004. She was alleged to be part of a terrorist module that was planning to kill then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which probe the case, was assisted by Verma.
The departmental enquiry that led to his dismissal pertained to March 2016, while he was posted in the North East. As allegations were being levelled during the probe by CBI and Verma in the Ishrat Jahan case, Verma clarified the accusations against him in a media interview, which became the basis for initiating departmental proceedings against him.
The high court protected him all along in the department enquiry proceeding. By its order of September 22, 2021, the high court directed no “precipitate action” against Verma without permission of the high court. Against this order, the Centre filed an appeal in the top court. The proceedings remained pending for a long time the in high court as the Centre cited its pending appeal in top court to delay the matter before the high court.
On August 30, the high court finally permitted the Centre to proceed against Verma. He was dismissed from service the same day. The top court on September 19 stayed the implementation of the dismissal order for a week. The Delhi high court, however, refused to extend the protection, leading Verma to return to the top court.
