Ahmedabad:  Behind the bars for 17 days, suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, locked in a confrontation with Chief Minister Narendra Modi over the 2002 Gujarat riots, was today released on bail by a sessions court which expressed “reasonable doubts” about the case in which he was arrested.

Sessions judge V K Vyas, hearing the case, observed that prima facie he had doubts on the contents of the FIR by constable K D Pant, based on which Bhatt was arrested on September 30.

According to the FIR, Bhatt had allegedly threatened Pant and made him sign a false affidavit with regard to the IPS officer”s presence in the February 27, 2002 meeting called by the chief minister after the Godhra train burning incident.

The court said that while deciding on a bail plea it is a set rule that the authenticity and believability of the complaint has to be ascertained first.

“Prima facie, there was reasonable doubt about the case of the complainant (Pant), which says that he was wrongly confined, restrained and threatened, forced to sign affidavit without reading the contents that were different from the what he was told about,” the court observed in the order.

Pant”s affidavit before executive magistrate against Bhatt and late filing of complaint, his flip-flop regarding his presence in Gujarat on February 27, 2002, led the court to doubt the FIR itself.

The court was also dismissive of state government”s apprehension that Bhatt could tamper with evidence if released on bail, saying he could hardly do that since most of the evidence have been recorded and preserved on video tape or placed before the court and thus safe.

Bhatt had moved bail application on October 3, which was opposed by the state government.