Guj ex-DGP Pandey discharged from Ishrat Jahan case

A special CBI court on Wednesday discharged former DGP of Gujarat P P Pandey in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

"At times it appears that there is a delay in delivery of justice in our country but eventually truth does come out. This is good for Gujarat police...It also shows that the courts are neutral and can take firm decisions," P P Pandey said after the judgement.

The Ahmedabad crime branch officials had gunned down a 19-year-old college girl Ishrat Jahan from Mumbra, her friend Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh, Zeeshan Johar and Amzad Rana in an encounter on June 15, 2004, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, claiming that they had come to carry out terrorist activities in the state, including attack on the then chief minister Narendra Modi. Pandey was head of the crime branch during this time.

Special CBI court judge J K Pandya allowed Pandey's discharge application on the ground that there was no evidence against him related to kidnapping and murder of Ishrat Jahan and three others.

It also stated that the evidence of witnesses in the case were contradictory and that they gave different evidences to different investigating agencies. The court also pointed out that as per Section 197 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), in case of a government servant, the investigating officer was required to take permission from the state to prosecute and filing the charge sheet. The court said that this was not done in the case of Pandey.

The CBI, that had investigated the case, had in its first charge sheet filed in 2013, accused seven police and IPS officials, including Pandey, D G Vanzara and G L Singhal, under charges of kidnapping, murder and conspiracy.

The CBI had also named four Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials, including IB's special director Rajinder Kumar and officer M S Sinha, in its supplementary charge sheet, which still awaits the Centre's sanction.

With Wednesday's ruling, Pandey becomes a first accused in the case to be discharged. Pandey had spent 19 months in jail until February 2015 in the case. He was later reinstated as ADGP (Law and Order) and later as DGP in-charge of the state. He, however, was forced to resign as head of state police in April of 2017, after his promotion was challenged in the Supreme Court by former top cop Julio Riberio.

Fighting the case, Pandey claimed that none of the 105 witnesses examined by the court had named him and that he had no direct or indirect involvement in the case.

"Definitely this is a disappointing verdict. The victims' side would surely challenge the decision in the upper courts," Shamshad Pathan, lawyer representing the next of kin of those killed in Ishrat encounter said.

"He (P P Pandey) had the main role in the conspiracy and the court has not taken some evidences before it, on the basis of which the verdict can be challenged."