Sohrabuddin case: SC grants three more months for CBI probe

The order in this regard was passed amidst strong protest by Shah's lawyer and senior advocate Ram Jethmalani who questioned the apex court direction of a CBI probe into the case. He alleged that the bench which gave the order for a CBI probe on January 12 included Justice Tarun Chatterjee (since retired) who was himself was under the scanner of the probe agency which was investigating the UP Provident Fund scam case.

Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium, who is assisting the court in the matter, took strong objection to Jethmalani's submission and said if such was the case, then Gujarat government should have pointed it out at that stage only.

Even the bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha expressed its displeasure on submission made by Jethmalani and asked him to refrain from mentioning about the former judge. Jethmalani made the submission after the bench wanted to know from him as to on what ground the January 12 decision of the court ordering the CBI probe in the case could be recalled.

After the counsel from all the sides were pacified, the bench went ahead with the hearing and passed the order giving three months' extension to the CBI to complete the probe. The bench declined the plea of Shah that he should be given time to respond to the CBI plea seeking extension of six months to carry out its investigation.

"We are not inclined to give time to reply to the plea of the CBI," the bench said, adding, "since the investigation is not complete three months time is granted to the CBI". The court said that extension was granted as the CBI has to investigate the larger conspiracy involving the killing of Prajapati, an eyewitness to Sohrabuddin's killing in November 2005.

Prajapati was also killed in a police encounter in 2006 end. The court directed the CBI to file a status report about its investigation after three months in a sealed cover.

The court was hearing the matter for the first time after the CBI had on July 30 filed the status report in a sealed cover on its six-month-old investigation in the case. The CBI has questioned not only Shah but several senior IPS officers, who were associated with the state police when the fake encounter took place in 2005.

In addition to Shah, the other accused in the case are D G Vanzara and Rajkumar Pandian, both Gujarat cadre IPS officers, and Dinesh M N, a Rajasthan cadre IPS officer.
After CBI took over the case, another senior Gujarat cadre IPS officer Abhay Chudasama was arrested on April 28.

Sheikh, an alleged gangster, was killed by Gujarat police with the help of Andhra Pradesh police claiming he was planning to assassinate Modi. The apex court had handed over the investigation in the case to the CBI after expressing dissatisfaction over the probe by the Gujarat police's Special Investigation Team headed by Inspector General Geetha Johri.

Another senior retired IPS officer O P Mathur was also questioned by the CBI. Pointing out that there were large-scale discrepancies in the CID investigation in the case, the apex court had said it would be appropriate to order a CBI inquiry to instill confidence among the relatives of the deceased and the people, as those involved were high-ranking police officials.

The court had rejected Gujarat government's argument that once the charge sheet had been filed, the court has no power to transfer the investigation to another agency. Sohrabuddin, Kauser Bi and another person, suspected to be Prajapati, were picked up during a joint operation by the police of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh from a bus while they were on their way from Hyderabad to Sangli in Maharashtra on November 22, 2005.

He was gunned down in an alleged encounter by the Gujarat police's Anti-Terrorist Squad, which had claimed he had come to the city to eliminate Modi. The policemen are also accused of killing Kauser Bi and Prajapati to destroy evidence.

The investigation in the case by CBI had stirred a political controversy after Shah was arrested and charged with murder. He is presently in judicial custody in Sabarmati Jail. Shah had resigned from Modi government after the CBI filed a charge sheet against him in the case.