In a blatant case that reveals how the BJP government in Gujarat can witch hunt, a retired IPS officer has been slapped with a case regarding police conduct. The case pertains to a 1984 incident. An arrest warrant has been issued against retired IPS officer Kuldeep Sharma, known to be a vocal critic of the BJP particularly Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in a 41 year old case.
Kuldeep Sharma has been charged of assaulting a Congress leader then. It must be emphasised that Kuldeep Sharma, a retired IPS officers and ex DIG, Gujarat had accused then Home Minister of State, Amit Shah of accepting a bribe of 2.5 crore to bail out Ketan Parekh involved in a 1600 crore bank scam in 2005.The bank was a Gujarat based co-operative bank and Shah was its’ director.
Kuldeep who was then DIG with the CID department was hounded out of the police department for daring to enquire into allegations of bribery against Shah. He was dumped into the innocuous Gujarat state sheep and wool development department. Kuldeep was the first IPS officer, after 31 IAS officers, to serve as the MD of the department. Kuldeep is the brother of IAS officer Pradeep Sharma who had demanded a CBI probe against then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi for snooping on a young woman architect in Kutch. Pradeep Sharma was then the Collector of Kutch and had claimed that he introduced the architect to Gujarat CM Modi. Pradeep Sharma was arrested in 2005. Now, he has over 15 criminal complaints against him related to illegal land acquisition, bribery and money laundering. It must be noted that all these cases against the Sharma brothers came up only after they openly rebelled against what they described as wrong doings by Modi government in Gujarat when he was the Chief Minister.
Now, a lower court in Gujarat has issued a non-bailable warrant against his brother, IPS Kuldeep Sharma. In 2015, after Pradeep Sharma was arrested and Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, Kuldeep Sharma joined the Congress. Now, ironically, he may go to jail in a 41 year old case where he is alleged to have slapped a Congressman.
A sessions court in Kutch-Bhuj has issued a non-bailable warrant against retired IPS officer Kuldip Sharma and retired deputy superintendent of police Girish Vasavada in connection with the 41 year old case. The case involves unlawful confinement of a local Congress leader.
In May 1984, a group of local residents approached him with a representation concerning alleged harassment linked to an investigation in a Naliya-registered case. Among the delegation were local leaders including MLA Kharashankar Joshi and Congress leader Haji Abdulla Haji Ibrahim, also known as Ibla Sheth, who has since passed away. Much water has flown over the Sabarmati. Kuldip Sharma is currently with the Congress.
The complainant, Shankar Joshi, alleged that upon realising Sheth’s presence, Sharma reprimanded the MLA for bringing a “smuggler.”
According to reports, he then took Sheth to an adjoining room where he was beaten by Vasavada and two other police officers, who have since died pending trial.
Following Joshi’s complaint, a magisterial court in Kutch convicted Sharma and Vasavada in February this year. They were sentenced to three months’ imprisonment.
The charges included wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation, and voluntarily causing hurt. It may be noted that the duo was convicted only for wrongful confinement.
The two officers had appealed the conviction before the sessions court, which upheld the lower court’s decision on September 24. According to Joshi’s advocate, RS Gadhvi, the sessions court had also granted a 15-day stay on the order to allow the convicts time to approach the High Court.
Gadhvi was quoted as saying, “Today, the court issued NBW against the two accused on the basis of an application moved by us (complainant) on the ground that the order (of conviction) was stayed for 15 days and they have not got any further stay order (from the High Court).”
Senior advocate IH Syed, appearing for Sharma, reportedly said, “We have moved a revision application before Gujarat High Court against the order (confirming conviction of Sharma and Vasavada) passed by the Sessions court. We have also moved applications seeking exemption from surrendering and suspension of sentence and bail…The court has reserved its judgment (yesterday)…The NBW will be challenged.”
For background, Kuldip Sharma joined the IPS in 1976. He had reportedly come under scrutiny during his tenure as head of the state CID for his involvement in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh alleged fake encounter case.
Separately, Sharma was also named in another case relating to an alleged fake encounter, following an application by Kutch resident Jusab Juma Mokha. Mokha claimed that five members of his family were killed by police in 1984 while Sharma was serving as SP in Kutch. However, in August 2010, the Gujarat High Court quashed the FIR against Sharma in that case.
In September 2015, nearly a year after his retirement, Sharma joined the Congress party.
It may be noted that he, along with his brother, suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma, had been at odds with the then state government.
A former IPS officer and chemistry graduate, Pradeep Sharma was reportedly sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment in a 2011 case of alleged abuse of power and allotting government lands to a private company in Kutch in 2003-04.
He joined the Gujarat Administrative Service in 1981 as Deputy Collector, according to reports. In 1999, he was nominated to the IAS at the seniority of the 1994 cadre.
He has variously served as the Municipal Commissioner of Jamnagar and Bhavnagar and as the Collector of Kutch-Bhuj and Rajkot until his suspension in 2010, reports added.
He retired from service in 2015, five years after he was first apprehended on corruption charges.
So far, he has spent over five years and seven months in judicial custody in the various cases against him thereby validating how a person who dares to speak out against the Modi regime can be victimised.
Also Read: Rebel And Face Regime Fury Or Become A BJP Puppet To Evade Action https://www.vibesofindia.com/rebel-and-face-regime-fury-or-become-a-bjp-puppet-to-evade-action/
