The Gujarat government has told the High Court it would file its reply by Friday on a public interest litigation (PIL) plea filed by former super cop Julio Ribeiro challenging the State government’s order appointing P.P. Pandey, who is an accused in the Ishrat Jahan case, the Director General of P.
Earlier, the High Court Bench comprising Chief Justice R. Subhash Reddy and Justice V.M. Pancholi had asked government lawyers to take instructions from the State while admitting the litigation, which contends that Mr. Pandey cannot be made the DGP as he is still an accused in the case and is at present out on bail.
According to Mr. Ribeiro, Mr. Pandey may misuse his position to hamper investigation into the case and influence witnesses, many of whom are junior policemen.
Mr. Pandey was appointed to the post last April after the Central government appointed Gujarat DGP P.C. Thakur as DG of Home Guards and Civil Defence.
In 2004, Mr. Pandey was the joint commissioner of police heading the Ahmedabad crime branch, which along with Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials killed four people, including 19-year-old Mumbra girl Ishrat.
