Modi-baiter former IPS officer stands discredited
After the damning observations by the Supreme Court, there is really nothing left to be said about the shameful conduct of dismissed IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt. He has been exposed for what he was during his career with the police in Gujarat — a hate-Modi figure who resorted to lies to push his agenda; collaborated with Mr Narendra Modi's political rivals; tied up with non-Government organisations that shared his malice; and drew oxygen from sections of the media which prospered from their anti-Modi campaigns. All of them have egg on their face after the apex court on Tuesday rejected Mr Bhatt's plea to constitute a special investigation team for probing charges the Gujarat Government has levelled against him. Unequivocally and bluntly, the Bench hearing his petition said the sacked officer had approached the court with “unclean hands”. The court was referring to his “false and baseless” allegation that the criminal cases the Gujarat regime had slapped against him was to muzzle his voice against the perpetrators of the 2002 violence in the State. The court also added that Mr Bhatt had hobnobbed with the leaders of a “rival political party” (the reference to the Congress is obvious) to pursue his dubious goal. The Bench of Chief Justice Hl Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra noted that he had used certain NGOs (Modi-baiter Teesta Setalvad's organisation comes straight to mind) and sections of the media to pressure the court and those related with the prosecution. These are grave charges of perjury and provide a fit case for fresh prosecution proceedings against Mr Bhatt. The apex court's verdict clears the path for the Gujarat Government to go ahead with its cases against the dismissed official. Mr Bhatt, who thought he could manipulate even the judiciary through pressures from outside, should now appreciate that malicious falsehood can serve only a limited purpose and that it eventually backfires. But while the thoroughly discredited officer now faces the law, what does one say about all those who colluded with him in their blind hatred for Mr ModiIJ They had thrown facts to the wind in their zeal to ‘fix' the then Chief Minister of Gujarat and now the country's Prime Minister.
There had been material from the start to question Mr Bhatt's contention that Mr Modi had been complicit in the 2002 incident — a contention based on the former's claim of being present at a high-level meeting in end-February 2002, presided over by the then Chief Minister Modi, where the latter is alleged to have asked the administration to go slow on containing the violence. The dismissed officer even repeated the lie before the Justice Nanavati panel probing the incident. And yet the Congress, certain NGOs and sections of the media had lapped up his claim as gospel truth. The contrary material was dismissed with contempt. Congress leaders had in fact grandly stated that “all those who oppose fascism should collectively support Bhatt”. It is now clear that they were supporting the wrong man. Perhaps they knew it even then, but their hatred for Mr Modi was such that it overwhelmed better sense. They, along with like-minded NGOs and mediapersons, gladly accepted the sensationalisation that Mr Bhatt indulged in. The more sensational his diatribe became, the better it was for them.