Retired Gujarat DIG Vanzara Demands Promotions for Encounter-Accused Cops (and threatens 'unknown consequences' in case his demands are refused)
NB: Numerous instances of re-instatement of policemen accused of heinous crimes are in public view. Readers may judge for themselves as to the fate of our constitutional rights and criminal justice system, both of which have been under sustained attack from various quarters for the past several decades: (see links supplied below). On one point I agree completely with Mr Vanzara, when he says: "In the dirty politics of India, it is the individual interests of the leaders which are considered supreme, then come group interests within the party and ultimately comes the party interest among many parties; national interest is only talked about just to befool the people, in reality, nobody is bothered about nation." We have been warned. Unless dutiful members of the bureaucracy, judiciary and police force remember their oath to the Indian Constitution, citizens can expect a rapid degradation of their lawful rights (which were already under threat) in the immediate future. DS
Retired IPS officer D G Vanzara, an accused in Ishrat Jahan
and Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter cases, has demanded promotion for himself
and 15 co-accused police officers, on the lines of decision taken by Rajasthan
government. In a letter written to the Gujarat government, Vanzara has also objected to the
promotion of IPS officer Geetha Johri, who was discharged from the case
recently, saying it was "outrightly unlawful and hasty". He has
threatened that all the politicians and police officers who were discharged in
the encounter cases "will not be allowed to go scot-free if other accused
are not given they due".
"All these (16) reinstated officers and policemen have become overdue for more than one promotions. Their promotions are kept in abeyance," says his letter to the additional chief secretary G R Aloria. "The police officers and men have applied. For promotion on parity with co-accused police officer Dinesh M N who has been given three promotions at one go by the government of Rajasthan," he said.
"The government action of denying promotion to P P Pandey and others (Pandey is an accused in Ishrat Jahan case, now on bail) is not only unlawful, illegal, irrational. But it is also whimsical, capricious and oppressive in nature which is not inspired by any standard legal norms but guided by some extraneous and irrelevant political considerations," he adds.
In the case of Johri, Vanzara admits that she has been discharged, but "before promoting her, the government of Gujarat would have verified from CBI whether it was (going) to challenge the discharge order in Bomaby High Court." "She has been wrongly promoted by deviating from the standard procedure to save the skin of all the accused persons who are discharged from the case by CBI court, especially that of (BJP chief) Amitbhai Shah and P C Pandey (another police officer, accused in Sohrabuddin case)," it says. "It was Johri in league with Pandey and Amit Shah who created sorry state of affairs for Gujarat police in general and accused police officers and men in particular," Vanzara alleges. Even if they are discharged, they can be arraigned again as the accused, Vanzara says in the letter.
"Hence I can only assure all the discharged accused politicians and police officers in Sohrabuddin and Tulsiram encounter case that they will not be allowed to go scot-free, if they tried to serve their own interest at the cost of legitimate interests of remaining accused police officers and men who will be facing the trial," he says. "Denying us our lawful promotion will be an act of great provocation to us which may lead to some unknown consequences," the letter warns. The copies of the letter have been marked to personal secretaries of Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, Minister of State for Home Rajnikant Patel and DGP P C Thakur.
Vanzara has sought promotion for IPS officer P P Pandey to DGP rank, for Rajkumar Pandian to the rank of IGP, Abhay Chudasma as DIGP, and one promotion of selection grade to G L Singhal and Vipul Agrawal. He has sought N K Amin's promotion to IPS grade, and promotions for B R Chaubey, N V Chauhan, Santram Sharma, Ajay Parmar, Ajaypalsinh Yadav, K H Chauhan, Vinodkumar Limbachiya, Kanji Katchi and Anaju Chaudhari. "Apart from stated officer, I, D G Vanzara, DIG retired, have also applied for my notional promotion to the rank of inspector general of police," the letter says.
"It was a matter of great pleasure for all of us when we came to know that the government of Rajasthan, by taking just, fair and right decision, could give three promotions of selection grade, DIGP and IGP to our co accused, SP, Dinesh MN and posted him as MD of Rajasthan Small Industries Corporation at Jaipur where ordinarily very senior IAS officers are being posted," Vanzara says. "There is no valid reason as to why the government of Gujarat should lag behind... At present, BJP government with absolute majority is sitting at the Centre with a very strong leader presiding over it, now the valid question arises, who is preventing Gujarat government for allowing the law to take its own course and give promotion to us."
Vanzara got bail on February 18 this year from the CBI court, after spending eight years behind the bars in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case. He was the deputy commissioner of police in Ahmedabad crime branch, when Mumbra-based college girl Ishrat, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter with Gujarat police on the outskirts of the city on June 15, 2004.
The crime branch claimed that they were Lashkar-e-Taiyaba operatives who had landed in Gujarat to kill the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. However, the CBI later conducted a probe upon the High Court order, and held that the encounter, a joint operation of crime branch and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), was fake. In September 2013 Vanzara resigned, alleging that the Gujarat government, then headed by Modi, had failed to protect the jailed police officers who had fought a war against "Pakistan-inspired terrorism".
"All these (16) reinstated officers and policemen have become overdue for more than one promotions. Their promotions are kept in abeyance," says his letter to the additional chief secretary G R Aloria. "The police officers and men have applied. For promotion on parity with co-accused police officer Dinesh M N who has been given three promotions at one go by the government of Rajasthan," he said.
"The government action of denying promotion to P P Pandey and others (Pandey is an accused in Ishrat Jahan case, now on bail) is not only unlawful, illegal, irrational. But it is also whimsical, capricious and oppressive in nature which is not inspired by any standard legal norms but guided by some extraneous and irrelevant political considerations," he adds.
In the case of Johri, Vanzara admits that she has been discharged, but "before promoting her, the government of Gujarat would have verified from CBI whether it was (going) to challenge the discharge order in Bomaby High Court." "She has been wrongly promoted by deviating from the standard procedure to save the skin of all the accused persons who are discharged from the case by CBI court, especially that of (BJP chief) Amitbhai Shah and P C Pandey (another police officer, accused in Sohrabuddin case)," it says. "It was Johri in league with Pandey and Amit Shah who created sorry state of affairs for Gujarat police in general and accused police officers and men in particular," Vanzara alleges. Even if they are discharged, they can be arraigned again as the accused, Vanzara says in the letter.
"Hence I can only assure all the discharged accused politicians and police officers in Sohrabuddin and Tulsiram encounter case that they will not be allowed to go scot-free, if they tried to serve their own interest at the cost of legitimate interests of remaining accused police officers and men who will be facing the trial," he says. "Denying us our lawful promotion will be an act of great provocation to us which may lead to some unknown consequences," the letter warns. The copies of the letter have been marked to personal secretaries of Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, Minister of State for Home Rajnikant Patel and DGP P C Thakur.
Vanzara has sought promotion for IPS officer P P Pandey to DGP rank, for Rajkumar Pandian to the rank of IGP, Abhay Chudasma as DIGP, and one promotion of selection grade to G L Singhal and Vipul Agrawal. He has sought N K Amin's promotion to IPS grade, and promotions for B R Chaubey, N V Chauhan, Santram Sharma, Ajay Parmar, Ajaypalsinh Yadav, K H Chauhan, Vinodkumar Limbachiya, Kanji Katchi and Anaju Chaudhari. "Apart from stated officer, I, D G Vanzara, DIG retired, have also applied for my notional promotion to the rank of inspector general of police," the letter says.
"It was a matter of great pleasure for all of us when we came to know that the government of Rajasthan, by taking just, fair and right decision, could give three promotions of selection grade, DIGP and IGP to our co accused, SP, Dinesh MN and posted him as MD of Rajasthan Small Industries Corporation at Jaipur where ordinarily very senior IAS officers are being posted," Vanzara says. "There is no valid reason as to why the government of Gujarat should lag behind... At present, BJP government with absolute majority is sitting at the Centre with a very strong leader presiding over it, now the valid question arises, who is preventing Gujarat government for allowing the law to take its own course and give promotion to us."
Vanzara got bail on February 18 this year from the CBI court, after spending eight years behind the bars in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case. He was the deputy commissioner of police in Ahmedabad crime branch, when Mumbra-based college girl Ishrat, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter with Gujarat police on the outskirts of the city on June 15, 2004.
The crime branch claimed that they were Lashkar-e-Taiyaba operatives who had landed in Gujarat to kill the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. However, the CBI later conducted a probe upon the High Court order, and held that the encounter, a joint operation of crime branch and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), was fake. In September 2013 Vanzara resigned, alleging that the Gujarat government, then headed by Modi, had failed to protect the jailed police officers who had fought a war against "Pakistan-inspired terrorism".
"We simply performed our duty lawfully and diligently
whereby we provided much needed security atmosphere to the people. We waged war
against those, who waged war against the state, but over the period of time, we
are given the impression that the state, by denying promotions to us, is now
waging war against us. "Such a treachery and treason from the side of the state will not be
tolerated by us and will be opposed and fought tooth and nail," he says. "In the dirty politics of India, it is the individual interests of the
leaders which are considered supreme, then come group interests within the
party and ultimately comes the party interest among many parties; national
interest is only talked about just to befool the people, in reality, nobody is
bothered about nation," he says.
http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/vanzara-demands-promotions-for-encounteraccused-cops/895823Also see
Prajapati encounter case: Gujarat Police inspector Ashish Pandya reinstated in service
Gujarat reinstates another suspended cop after securing bail in Prajapati encounter case
DG Vanzara's letter - Times of India (2013)
The Broken Middle (on the 30th anniversary of 1984)
