Sessions Court Judge VK Vyas, while issuing the notice to the state government, fixed the hearing on Bhatt's bail plea for Tuesday.
A local court in Ahmedabad on Monday issued notice to the Gujarat government on the bail plea of suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who was arrested on Friday on the basis of an FIR lodged against him on charges of threatening and fabricating evidence.
Sessions Court Judge VK Vyas, while issuing the notice to the state government, fixed the hearing on Bhatt's bail plea for Tuesday.
Bhatt was arrested on the basis of the FIR filed against him by police constable KD Pant for allegedly threatening him and forcing to sign a false affidavit with regard to a meeting called by Chief Minister Narendra Modi on February 27, 2002, hours after the Godhra train carnage.
He has been booked under IPC sections 341 (causing wrongful restraint), 342 (causing wrongful confinement), 195 (giving fabricated evidence) and 189 (threat of injury to public servant).
Police plea for Bhatt's remand was rejected on Saturday by the court and he had been sent to judicial custody. He is presently lodged in Sabarmati jail.
Bhatt has been locked in a public confrontation with Modi after he had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court accusing the Chief Minister of complicity in the 2002 riots.
Bhatt was also served a charge sheet by Gujarat Home Department in connection with his alleged unauthorised absence from duty.
In his bail application, Bhatt has contended he was falsely implicated with an ulterior motive at the behest of some political functionaries and senior police officers.
He claimed complainant K D Pant appeared to be acting at the diktats of political members of the state government.
According to Bhatt's plea, his arrest was politically motivated and was aimed at getting hold of the alleged evidence he had against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi with regard to the 2002 communal riots, and destroying them.
He said Section 194 (giving fabricated evidence with intent to procure conviction of capital offence) of the IPC has been added to the FIR after his arrest without any basis just to show aggravated form of offence.
Bhatt said charges of Section 195 (fabricating evidence) was bailable and non-cognisable. Also, Sections 341 and 342 with regard to wrongful confinement were added in the FIR only to make it cognisable, he countered.
The IPS officer has stated in the bail application that he had in November 2003 come across vital documentary evidence in the murder case of BJP leader Haren Pandya, which he had sent to then Minister of State for Home Amit Shah.
He further stated that Shah then telephoned him and threatened him to destroy the evidence immediately.
Bhatt went on to state that Modi and Shah got very annoyed and agitated with him. They pressurised him to withdraw and destroy the communication sent by him to Home department and evidence in the Pandya murder case, he alleged.
The IPS officer said the evidence with regard to Pandya case brought out the role of highly placed state functionaries and politicians, hence he was arrested to get hold of that evidence.
Bhatt said since he was a witness of the Zakia Jaffery complaint before the Supreme Court, his arrest amounted to interference with the court proceedings.
He has requested for interim bail during the pendency of his bail application.
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