The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) dismissed the suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt for "remaining defiant and flagrantly flouting the rules with complete disregard" as all the 11 charges levelled against him by the Gujarat government were proved in an ex-parte inquiry conducted by the Gujarat government.
In a four-page terminal order dated August 13, the MHA has noted: "Shri Sanjiv Bhatt had remained defiant and flagrantly flouted the rules with complete disregard to the discipline which should otherwise have been the hallmark of an officer of the uniformed force."
The order mentioned that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in its letter in June 2015 advised the MHA that "ends of justice would be met in this case if the penalty of 'removal from service which shall not be a disqualification for future employment under the Government' is imposed on the officer."
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Subsequently, the MHA has sent a complete set of documents to Mr Bhatt, who stated in his defence that "he was willing to participate in any duly constituted and fairly conducted disciplinary proceedings, as that would not only vindicate his complete innocence but also expose the malicious fallacy of the pointless charges..."
Mr. Bhatt stated that the inquiry was done in haste and in ex-parte manner without giving him reasonable opportunity to fairly defend himself "against the machinations the highly vindictive apparatus that worked at the behest and instance of the Government of Gujarat."
The MHA, however, rejected Mr Bhatt's defence stating that "it appears that there is no malaise intention on the part of the disciplinary authority and the inquiry officer in the departmental inquiry."
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Corrections and Clarifications:
This article has been edited to correct an editing error.