Supreme Court admits 2nd plea of IAS officer Pradeep N Sharma against Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI/AHMEDABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday accepted a second petition filed by a senior Gujarat cadre IAS officer Pradeep N Sharma, seeking a CBI probe into a fresh criminal case registered by the state police against him allegedly at the instance of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Gujarat Police had registered a fifth FIR against Sharma, a 1984 batch IAS officer, on May 12, the day the Supreme Court had sought a response from Modi on the allegations that several criminal cases have been foisted against the officer at his behest.

A bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and RM Lodha tagged Sharma's fresh petition with the first one on which it had issued notices and sought a response from Modi and the Centre for transferring the probe to an independent agency. The bench had also sought a response from CBI.

Sharma, who is in judicial custody, has alleged he has been a victim of politics as he was not following the "illegal" instructions of the CM and the state administration. Sharma is facing five criminal cases, including one for his alleged involvement in a land scam registered against him since 2008 in Rajkot area.

In another development, the wife of slain minister Haren Pandya has moved the Gujarat High Court seeking a reinvestigation into his killing, after the Narendra Modi government virtually rejected her plea for a fresh probe into the case. "I moved the High Court for re-investigations in the case. The High Court in its last order had criticised the CBI for loopholes in investigations," Jagruti told PTI. The case will be heard on September 13. Jagruti's petition, filed on Thursday, has named CBI and Gujarat government as respondents in the case.

The Gujarat High Court, in its decision on August 29, dropped charges of murder against 12 persons convicted for assassination of Haren Pandya in 2003, while upholding the charges of criminal conspiracy and terrorism under Pota against them awarded by the trial court. The division bench of Justice DH Waghela and Justice JC Upadhyayahad also came down heavily on CBI and called its investigation 'botched up' and 'blinkered'. Pandya, former minister of state for home, was shot dead on March 26, 2003.