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A special CBI court has closed the 2003 Sadiq Jamal Mehtar fake encounter case after all seven accused policemen were discharged from the case without trial while the eighth accused was abated after his death.
Judge Digant Vora, Special CBI court, Ahmedabad sessions and city court passed an order recently ordering closure of the case. The order stated, "As all the seven accused have been discharged and case against one accused was abated and as there is no other accused in the charge-sheet..., therefore CBI Sessions Cases No. 1/2013 stands disposed off accordingly."
It was one of most publicized encounter cases in the state which was investigated under Gujarat high court supervision. The high court had ordered the CBI to file an FIR and investigate it.
In 2012, the central agency had filed the chargesheet against eight accused, all below Assistant Commissioner of Police rank, and had told the court that investigation was not completed.
However, even after ten years CBI didn't file any supplementary chargesheet and over the years all accused policemen were discharged one by one by special CBI court and Gujarat high court. Neither CBI nor Sadiq's brother Shabir Jamal Mehtar challenged the discharged orders.
On July 25, the single bench of high court had allowed the discharge application of retired DySP Irshadali Anwarali Saiyed. He was accused of shooting Mehtar. Saiyed was the last accused to have been discharged from the case. Subsequently, on August 8, the special CBI judge passed the order of disposing of the case.
Earlier, retired policemen Tarun Barot, K M Vaghela, G H Gohil, Chhtrasinh Chudasama, R L Mavani and Ajaypal Yadav had been discharged. The eighth accused, retired DySP J G Parmar, was abated after he passed away during pendency.
CBI had chargesheeted for the offence punishable under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 341, 342 (wrongful confinement), 302 (murder) and 203 (Giving false information respecting an offence committed) of Indian Penal Code.
They were accused of killing Bhavnagar resident Sadiq Jamal Mehtar in a staged encounter on the outskirts of Ahmedabad while branding him as an LeT operative who had planned to kill the then chief minister Narendra Modi and other saffron leaders to avenge 2002 Godhra riots.
Similarly, the extra judicial killing of 19-year-old Mumbai college girl Ishrat Jahan was also closed after all the accused were discharged. The CBI didn't challenge any of the orders in courts while Ishrat's mother Shamima Kauser gave up fighting. In a letter to CBI court she said that she "couldn't fight alone" and she was "hopeless and helpless."