Call Sanjiv Bhatt for deposition, Mallika Sarabhai tells riot panel

Activist Mallika Sarabhai has written a letter to the Nanavati-Mehta Commission of Inquiry to summon suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt for deposition. Interestingly, Bhatt has also expressed his willingness to appear before the commission.

Sarabhai wrote the letter to the commission on October 25. She said in the letter that it was important to summon Bhatt for deposition after former DGP RB Sreekumar filed an affidavit on September 16. “In view of the revelations made by Sreekumar on oath, it becomes absolutely imperative for the commission to question Bhatt as he is the only person who would be in a position to provide the further missing details regarding the actions taken by the chief minister and the government of Gujarat to derail my writ petition,” she said in her letter.

Soon after the riots, Sarabhai had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court in April 2002, demanding action against Narendra Modi, accusing him and his government of complicity in the spread of riots. She was the first to file a petition in the Apex Court after the riots. She had demanded that the alleged role of the state government and chief minister Modi in the communal violence be investigated.

Sarabhai has sent a copy of her letter to Bhatt. So, on the basis of this, Bhatt has written a letter to the commission, expressing his willingness to appear before it for deposition.

In his letter of October 31, Bhatt has stated that as the petition filed by Zakia Jafri before the Apex Court had been disposed of, the issue was longer sub judice and he had no restraints to depose before the commission.

“In view of the disposal of the special leave petition, I can now appear before the commission, as and when summoned, in order to bring out the details regarding the exact roles of Narendra Modi, Amit Shah as well as the advocates attached with certain law offices in Ahmedabad and Delhi, in undermining the proceedings of writ petition filed by Mallika Sarabhai before the Supreme Court,” Bhatt said in his letter.

Bhatt also said: “My deposition on the subject will bring out the vivid details as to how Rs10 lakh was drawn from the Secret Service Fund and was subsequently handed over by Narendra Modi to Amit Shah on the very same day for further disbursal and execution of plans as per the instructions of Narendra Modi.”