The court's ruling came keeping in view the provisions of Rule 3 of All India Services (Discipline & Appeal) Rule, 1969. The Rule has been made returnable on October 7.

Minister of State for Home Haren Pandya has said the State Government will on Thursday file an appeal before a Division Bench against the stay.

The two IPS officers were suspended following police firing in which seven people were killed in Surat last Friday during the Ganesha immersion festival. Vijoy was Surat Additional Commissioner of Police at that time and he, along with Agarwal, was charged with using excessive force. Two separate petitions filed by Vijoy and Agarwal denied that excessive force was used by them.

They stated that five days before the festival, the Surat Commissioner of Police had held a meeting with the organisers and it was decided that only about 54 Ganapatis would be permitted to take the old route through Madina Masjid on Limbayat road.

The petitions contended that in spite of the new arrangement, those not having permits for the the old route insisted on passing through the Madina Masjid area. They said the police tried to first disperse the 20,000 to 22,000-strong mob by using water cannons but members of the crowd broke the pipes. This forced the police to fire tear gas shells.

The petition stated that after the teargas shells were used up, the police asked for replenishment, a fact recorded by the control room. Following this, the police resorted to lathicharge.

The petitions stated that in another bid to disperse the mob, Agarwal made repeated requests on the megaphone but they were not heeded. As a last resort, the police fired 43 rounds.

Vijoy and Agarwal stated in their petitions that they had performed their duty and had not used excessive force.

Senior counsel D D Vyas and advocate Utpal Panchal who appeared for Vijoy and senior advocate Arun Mehta who appeared on behalf of Agarwal submitted that the suspension of the two officers was politically motivated and the order passed because of political pressure.

The advocates contended that the Government announced the suspension order a day before the Assembly session was to be convened to avoid criticism and embarrassment on the floor of the House.

Regarding Director General of Police C P Singh's report indicting the two officers, they submitted that by the time he visited Limbayat to assess the situation, there was peace in the area and the situation was completely under control. They contended that the DGP's report was not necessary as a judicial inquiry had been ordered into the incident.

Panchal stated that the Government should follow its own guidelines of a resolution passed on November 16, 1986 regarding transfer and suspension of its employees.

Immediately after the order was passed, there was jubilation outside the court with lawyers and the two officers congratulating each other.

Additional DG (Law and order) Hiralal and DSP Jamnagar Satish Verma, among others, were present in court.

Memo ready
In two rounds of meetings on Wednesday, the IPS Officers' Association prepared a memorandum which will be presented to Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel on Thursday. The Association members were to meet the Chief Minister on Wednesday, but could not do so as he was busy.