Guj IPS officer Verma to assist CBI in Ishrat investigation

"The government will spare the services of Satish Verma, as required by CBI, for four months or till the investigation is over, whichever is earlier," the division bench of justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari said in its order.

Stating that it would abide by the directive, the Gujarat government also gave an undertaking to the court that it would stop enquiry against Verma which was initiated while he was a member of special investigation team (SIT) formed by the court in the case.

Verma, on his part also assured the court that he was ready to assist the CBI team.

Verma was a member of the SIT to determine if the Isharat encounter was genuine. He had filed an affidavit in the high court saying that the encounter was fake and later the court transferred the case to the CBI.

Earlier, the CBI in a letter on June 8, 2012, requested the government to depute Verma for six months to assist the central agency in its enquiry into the Ishrat encounter.

On June 22, the high court had asked Advocate General Kamal Trivedi to file a reply on the CBI's request.

Trivedi today informed the court that the state government was ready to spare the services as per the direction of the court.

On the issue of Verma's petition regarding enquiry initiated by the state government, the Advocate General today made a declaration that, "no further enquiry or actions will be taken pursuant to the complaint filed against Verma." (MORE) ADT PD ABC

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