Dismissed Gujarat Cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt on Thursday told the Supreme Court that he was victimised and targeted by the state government, whose strategy was to shoot the messenger for his bold speaking about the handling of law and order situation during the riots of 2002.
“It is a clear case of victimisation. I am being victimised for being bold enough to say I was present in the meeting of February 27, 2002 and heard some words uttered by the then Chief Minister,” his counsel and senior advocate Indira Jaising submitted before a bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and Arun Mishra.
However, she said it is also a fact that his claim of being present in the meeting was denied by the then Police Commissioner of Ahmedabad, the DIG and one of the Bhatt’s subordinates, who allegedly had accompanied him in his vehicle to the Chief Minister’s office and later accused him of coercing him to sign a false affidavit.
The senior advocate said only Bhatt’s driver had stood by his statement that they had gone for the meeting.