Amin, Barot were outstanding cops, government tells High Court

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat government on Wednesday defended the appointment of encounter specialist cops – NK Amin and Tarun Barot — after their retirement on the ground of their “outstanding performance” in the past 10 years as mentioned in their confidential reports.
Interestingly, of these 10 years, Amin was in jail for eight years in connection with the alleged fake encounter cases before he got conditional bail and got reinstated in service last year.After his retirement in August, his service has been extended on contractual basis for one year at the same post of superintendent of police, Mahisagar-Lunawada district.
Barot, who retired when he was in jail, was also appointed on contract as DySP with the Western Railway at Vadodara. He is facing trial in two encounter cases – Ishrat Jahan and Sadiq Jamal Mehtar. He is out on bail at present.
Their appointment was questioned by former IPS Rahul Sharma, who now practices law. He has taken exception to the posting because both the cops have "criminal antecedents, and their appointment to senior positions in the police force is not conducive to the general public interest,” Sharma said in his petition.
In reply to the HC notice, the state government has said that there is no departmental proceedings pending before the cops and their performance was outstanding in last 10 confidential reports. They have never violated bail conditions and Amin has been discharged in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case by a Mumbai CBI court. Opposing Sharma’s PIL, the state government has attacked Sharma for his “bias” against state administration. Sharma’s petition is not in public interest litigation in its true sense, the government said in an affidavit.
The state government has also countered Sharma’s argument that the appointments were against the provisions of the Bombay Police Act. It maintained that the state government has got powers to appoint people on contract basis. Further hearing on this petition is kept for November 29.