Snoopgate: HC rejects Sharma's plea to file FIR against Modi

Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court on Wednesday rejected suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma’s plea seeking direction to lodge FIR against Chief Minister Narendra Modi in a case of alleged snooping of a woman by former state Home Minister Amit Shah on behest of one ‘Saheb’. [caption id=“attachment_933925” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Amit Shah. AFP[/caption] Justice GR Udhvani, while rejecting the plea, observed that there are alternative remedies available and asked him to approach the magisterial court. The court said that the petition is not maintainable under Article 226. Article 226 contains the provision for filing a petition before the Gujarat High Court. Pradeep Sharma had earlier approached Sector 7 police station of Gandhinagar but police had refused to file the FIR. Sharma had also approached Gujarat DGP PC Thakur and Gandhinagar SP Sharad Singhal to intervene and ask the police to file an FIR, but the efforts did not yield any results. He had then approached the High Court and contended that police cannot refuse to file an FIR, as per a Supreme Court’s recent direction. Earlier, two investigative news portals Cobrapost.com and Gulail.com had alleged that Gujarat state functionaries snooped on a woman architect and Sharma. Following the revelations, the Gujarat government had formed a commission under the chairpersonship of former High Court Judge Sugnya Bhatt to inquire into the issue. Sharma is facing six criminal cases of corruption in Gujarat. The 1984-batch IAS officer claimed he was being victimised by the BJP government in Gujarat. PTI