Bhatt's bail plea: Court reserves order on govt application

A local court on Tuesday reserved its order on an application by the Gujarat government which stated that the bail plea of suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt cannot be heard when his revision remand application is pending.

During the hearing of Bhatt's bail plea in the court of session judge VK Vyas, the government oppose the petition and filed an application saying it can not be heard when the revision remand application of the accused is pending. Arguing for the state government, special public prosecutor S V Raju said if the bail plea is heard when the remand application is pending, it would be a deviation from the set process of law.

"If the court grants bail to the accused at this point of time, our revision application for his remand will become infructuous," Raju said. However, Bhatt's lawyer I H Sayed disagreed with his arguments and said that remand application could remain pending for days together and his client should not suffer. The court will be passing a final order tomorrow. After coming out of the court, Bhatt's lawyer alleged that the government was adopting delaying tactics so that his client remains in jail for maximum time.

Bhatt was arrested on September 30 in connection with an FIR filed against him by police constable K D Pant in June for allegedly threatening him and making him sign false affidavits regarding a meeting called by Chief Minister Narendra Modi on February 27, 2002, hours after the Godhra train carnage.