GUJARAT HC QUASHES FIR AGAINST KULDEEP SHARMA

The Gujarat High Court on September 1 quashed an FIR registered against senior IPS officer Kuldeep Sharma. The Gujarat CID (Crime) had registered the FIR in connection with an alleged fake encounter in which two persons were killed by Kutch police in 1984 when Sharma was the Superintendent of Police. Observing that it was too late to allow further proceedings in the 26-year-old case, Justice R H Shukla quashed the FIR. He also specifically refused to consider Sharma’s allegations of grudge, vendetta and malafide against Chief Minister Narendra Modi. In his petition, Sharma had alleged that the present FIR was a fallout of the Chief Minister’s grudge against him for not towing the government’s line. Because of this grudge, the government had downgraded his annual confidential report and given him a posting with the Gujarat Sheep & Wool Development Corporation. However, the court noted that it was a subject matter of adjudication by fora like the Central Administrative Tribunal.