Panth had filed an FIR against Sanjiv Bhatt accusing him of forcing him to prepare a 'false' affidavit which was notarised by Kanara at his office.
The Gujarat high court on Monday asked the state government not to put any pressure on the lawyer, VH Kanara, who had notarized KD Panth's affidavit. Later, Panth had filed an FIR against IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt accusing him of forcing him to prepare a 'false' affidavit which was notarised by Kanara at his office.
Kanara had approached the high court late on Friday night after the city police allegedly put pressure on him to give a statement against state Congress president Arjun Modhwadia.
During the hearing in the high court on Monday, Kanara's counsel Nirupam Nanavati stated that they were not seeking protection against arrest. They wanted an assurance that Kanara's right of liberty would not be violated and he would not be forced to give a particular kind of statement by the police, Nirupam Nanavati said.
Nanavati withdrew the petition after the state's assurance but the court also asked the state government to give Kanara prior notice before calling him to record his statement. The court also directed the police to allow his advocate or a friend to be present within visible distance but not within audible distance.
In its affidavit opposing Kanara's petition, the state government said that the lawyer had been making false statements and misleading the investigating officer. When Kanara was interrogated about his telephonic conversation with Modhwadia, he had given false facts, the government alleged. The government affidavit alleged that Kanara had told the investigating officer that they had talked about an affidavit that was to be filed in the Supreme Court in a case that was disposed of a month back.
The government further alleged that Kanara had said that on June 16, 2011, Modhwadia had called him to discuss the case of Vija Parbhat Bhutia and the affidavit required to be filed in the case.
However, the said case was disposed of by the apex court in May 2011, the government claimed.
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