Gujarat HC ends monitoring of probe in Ishrat Jahan encounter case

The Gujarat High Court on Friday stopped monitoring the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case as the CBI filed the first charge sheet earlier this month.

A division bench comprising Justice Jayant Patel and Justice Abhilasha Kumari ruled that since the charge sheet has been filed by the investigating agency, it was now up to the trial court to hear the matter.

“Since the magistrates court is already in possession of the charge sheet, we do not deem it fit to continue with the monitoring,” the two judge bench said. 

The court, citing the Supreme Court judgement in the Zakia Jafri case, ruled that, “It had been laid down by the apex court through its ruling that once the charge sheet is filed in an appropriate court no other court can monitor the same.” The ruling came on a day when senior Gujarat IPS officer P P Pande got temporary relief from the Supreme Court which stayed his arrest till Monday.