Dismissed IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt seeks SIT probe into email hacking case

Former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who was dismissed on 19 August, has urged the Supreme Court to order a court monitored SIT investigation into allegations of email hacking against him.

Bhatt pleaded before the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra that he wanted a SIT probe instead of a CBI inquiry which he had sought earlier.

He cited a change in political leadership in the Central Government as the reason for changing his mind.

Gujarat's former additional advocate general, Tushar Mehta, has accused Bhatt of hacking into his email account.

Bhatt has alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then Gujarat chief minister, had orchestrated the case to pressure and intimidate him and other witnesses of the 2002 Gujarat riots.

In 2011, when the UPA was at the Centre, the apex court had issued a notice for a CBI investigation into Bhatt's claims.

Bhatt claimed he had a close personal relationship with Mehta and had known his family for two decades. In September 2009, Mehta had asked him to check his email to confirm a trip they had planned to Goa, Bhatt claimed.

He has also urged the apex court to make BJP President Amit Shah, RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy and several other aides of PM Modi, parties to the case.