Satish Chandra Verma, the IPS officer of Gujarat cadre is fired from his job. He was about to retire in one month’s time. Verma’s major claim to fame is leading the CBI investigation into the controversial Ishrat Jahan case.
Since the time, Verma joined the Ishrat Jahan investigation team, he had been at loggerheads with the Gujarat state government. He was a member of the Gujarat High Court’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) first and then a member of the CBI’s investigation at the court’s request. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat then.
In a highly publicized case, 19-year-old Ishrat Jahan, her friend Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, and two Pakistani nationals were killed in an encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Investigating the case, Verma managed to get the arrest warrants for former IPS officers like PP Pandey, DG Vanzara, GL Singhal, NK Amin, and Tarun Barot all considered pro-regime.
While Eight police officers were charged, the case did not go to trial because the CBI did not have permission to go after most of the accused. The Government of Gujarat had refused permission to CBI to take action.
The CBI filed a charge sheet maintaining that it was a fake encounter, but the trial did not happen. Verma meanwhile was denied promotion by the state government in 2010-2011, clearly due to his stance in the Ishrat Jahan probe case.
The High Court on September 7, allowed the Central Government to carry out the dismissal order On September 7 while protecting the officer till September 19, 2022, so that the petitioner could use his legal options to fight the dismissal order. Sources say that Verma has challenged this order in the Supreme Court.
The main accusation leveled against Verma is “Talking to the media in a way that hurt the country’s relations with other countries”
The 1986 batch officer is serving as Inspector General of Police (IGP). His juniors have overtaken him in the hierarchy. Originally from Bihar, Verma is an IITian from Delhi and he has an IIMA master’s degree in business administration.
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