<p>Justice M R Shah, while rejecting Pandiyan's bail plea, upheld the contention of the investigating agency CBI that releasing him would hamper investigation in the case.<br />The court also dismissed the contention of the defence that since Pandiyan was in jail since April 2007, keeping him for such a long time in prison amounted to violation of article 21 of the constitution.<br /><br />The CBI during hearing of the case, had submitted before the court that Pandiyan was threatening witnesses from inside the jail.<br /><br />Senior counsel K T S Tulsi, appearing on behalf of CBI, had given two sealed covers containing statements of witnesses recorded under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), to justify his submission.<br /><br />Tulsi told the court that investigation was at a stage where safety of witnesses was important. Otherwise it would be difficult to reach the stage of trial in the case.<br /><br />Pandiyan had approached the High Court seeking bail on the grounds of parity as former Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Amit Shah, a prime accused in the fake encounter case, was given bail.</p>
<p>Justice M R Shah, while rejecting Pandiyan's bail plea, upheld the contention of the investigating agency CBI that releasing him would hamper investigation in the case.<br />The court also dismissed the contention of the defence that since Pandiyan was in jail since April 2007, keeping him for such a long time in prison amounted to violation of article 21 of the constitution.<br /><br />The CBI during hearing of the case, had submitted before the court that Pandiyan was threatening witnesses from inside the jail.<br /><br />Senior counsel K T S Tulsi, appearing on behalf of CBI, had given two sealed covers containing statements of witnesses recorded under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), to justify his submission.<br /><br />Tulsi told the court that investigation was at a stage where safety of witnesses was important. Otherwise it would be difficult to reach the stage of trial in the case.<br /><br />Pandiyan had approached the High Court seeking bail on the grounds of parity as former Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Amit Shah, a prime accused in the fake encounter case, was given bail.</p>