The Supreme Court on Wednesday decided not to intervene against a Delhi High Court order refusing to stay the government's dismissal of Satish Chandra Verma, a senior IPS officer who assisted the CBI probe into the Ishrat Jahan "fake" encounter case.
The dismissal order came a month before his scheduled retirement on September 30, 2022.
A Bench led by Justice K.M. Joseph, however, modified the High Court order to facilitate the early disposal of his case.
The apex court directed the case to be taken up on November 22 in the Delhi High Court. It requested the High Court to dispose of the case expeditiously.
The Bench made it clear that it did not want to express anything on the merits of Mr. Verma's case or the contentions of the government for justifying his dismissal after a departmental enquiry found him guilty of charges, including "interacting with public media".
"I have put in 36 years of service. I am retiring on September 30. At least I may be allowed to go honourably," his counsel urged the court.
But the court said it had to "balance everything".
"If you are entitled to succeed, you will indeed have your day in court. Maybe, if you are entitled to justice as you say, you will have to go through many tribulations, many problems, but if the truth is on your side, the truth will come to you," Justice Joseph addressed Mr. Verma's counsel.
On September 19, the Bench had directed the government's order in abeyance for a week, giving Mr. Verma the opportunity to approach the High Court.
Denies interim relief
But the High Court, on September 26, denied him the interim relief of stay of the dismissal order.
"We are of the view that at this stage, the order of termination dated August 30, 2022 does not warrant any interference as the petitioner [Mr. Verma] is to superannuate, in any event, on September 30, 2022. Consequently, we are not inclined to stay or interdict the order of dismissal dated August 30, 2022 at this stage,” the High Court had observed in its order.
It had clarified that in case Mr. Verma was successful in his petition, he would be entitled to all the benefits of his superannuation. The High Court had then posted the case for further hearing on January 24, 2023.
Mr. Verma had probed the high-profile Ishrat Jahan case of 2004 between April 2010 and October 2011. Jahan, a resident of Mumbra near Mumbai, and three others, were allegedly killed on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.
The deceased were termed Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists who were accused of having plotted to kill the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Based on Mr. Verma’s investigation report, a Special Investigation Team had concluded that the encounter was “fake”.
