The arrest of IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has exposed the vindictive character of the Gujarat government. Any layman can say that Mr. Bhatt’s suspension from service followed by his arrest is the corollary to his filing of an affidavit in the Supreme Court about the connivance of the Chief Minister in the 2002 communal pogrom. The police raid on the houses of Mr. Bhatt and his mother even after his arrest amounts to state-sponsored coercion to stifle the evidence in the ZakiaJaffri case. The apex court shall take a serious view of the fear expressed by Mrs.Shweta Bhatt for her husband’s life. One is at a loss to understand the plight of an ordinary witness, if the life of a senior police officer is being feared. Unless a strong message is sent to guarantee the safety of all witnesses involved in the cases related to the Gujarat 2002 pogrom, it would be yet another episode of justice denied.
Syed Sultan Mohiddin
Kadapa, A.P.