The Narendra Modi government in Gujarat suffered a setback on Tuesday, with the Supreme Court directing a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the 2005 Soharabuddin Sheikh encounter case. A bench of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Aftab Alam in its verdict accepted the demand for the probe on the plea of the brother of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, who was allegedly killed in a fake encounter by the Gujarat Police.
There are two questions that come up for perusal at this point of time: 1. How important is an approver be in this case? 2. Is the CBI an independent body?
The anticipatory bail plea of Gujarat minister Amit Shah, who did not turn up before the Central Bureau of Investigation for questioning in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, was rejected by a special court on Friday.
Suspended IPS officers D G Vanzara and PP Pandey were on Thursday granted bail by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ahmedabad in the 2004 case of fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan and 3 others after remaining in jail for 18 months.
The BJP president will have to address issues like scrapping Article 370 of the Constitution, an issue dear to the party and the Sangh Parivar for long and a promise included in the manifesto during the last elections.
The Supreme Court wanted to know what could be the motive of the Andhra Pradesh police in helping its Gujarat counterparts to carry out the encounter killings of alleged gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kauser Bi and another person.
The fight in the BJP is about conservative RSS thinking versus Modi's marketing of his Hindutva image. During elections, every vote is important and in spite of his dislike of the RSS old-timers, Modi is returning to his favourite rhetoric. Modi needs Sohrabuddin to take the hardliners to the polling booths.
His second term as solicitor general was renewed recently.
Johri is the one who has been accused in the Sohrabuddin-Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case. However, the special Central Bureau of Investigation court discharged her from the case in March 2015, as the prosecution failed to obtain sanction for her prosecution from the state government.
While Jaitley posted his hard-hitting response to the opposition's move in Facebook, BJP fielded its spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi, who is also a lawyer, to take on the Congress.
A bench headed by Justice Tarun Chatterjee posted the matter for further hearing on August 6.
The poll watchdog had on Sunday held that Modi and Sonia Gandhi violated the model code of conduct by their remarks but was carping in its comments on the chief minister whose speech it said aggravated differences between communities.
The bench said that at this stage, the contemnor need not be present in person.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has sought more time from the Election Commission for a reply regarding his comments on the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.
The warrants were issued by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate K J Upadhyay after the Gujarat CID filed an application that neither of them had replied to their summons regading the case.
The Gujarat CID, the agency probing the case, also filed an application seeking the court's nod to conduct narco-analysis tests on the officers.
The officials, however, believe these tests will help them speed up their investigation
With the surrender of Gujarat police officer Dr N K Amin, state CID hopes that it could know exactly how Kauser Bi, wife of fake encounter victim Sohrabuddin, was killed in Ahmedabad in 2005.
The Supreme Court will hear on Wednesday an application seeking to make Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi a co-accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case on the basis of his alleged statement justifying the act.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said Modi had been quoted out of context from his speech allegedly justifying the fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin.
Another Gujarat police official, M L Parmar, accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case surrendered before the CID on Friday.
He also asked the Election Commission to take action against Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her 'merchant of death' remarks against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Vanzara was granted bail in the encounter case involving Jahan and three others in February last year on condition that he will not enter Gujarat.
The agency also brushed aside his statement, given to court the day he surrendered, that a statement was extracted from him under duress by the previous supervisor of the case Rajnish Rai.
A Bench of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and P K Balasubramanyan said it would pass appropriate orders on Thursday, but asked the Centre whether it was advisable to order a CBI probe at this juncture.
More arrests are likely, Johri said in her report. She also said that the role of the Andhra Pradesh police was also being investigated and a report would also be submitted on the issue.
This is the second time that Geeta Johri visited Andhra Pradesh for this case.
Geeta Johri, the investigating officer in the case, is likely to visit the CRPF Mess in Chandrayangutta.
The three policemen have been charged with abduction, illegal confinement and murder and are likely to be produced before the court for remand.
The digging work was conducted largely in and around an abandoned well that is in a farm behind Vanzara's massive bungalow and is owned by him and located in Sabarkatha district, about 100 km from Ahmedabad.
Investigations into the mysterious disappearance of Kausar Bi, the wife of Sohrabuddin Sheikh who was allegedly killed in a fake encounter in Ahmedabad in 2005 after being dubbed a terrorist by police, could throw up some grisly facts.
Members from Samajwadi Party, CPI(M), Congress, RJD and BSP termed as serious the killing of one Sohrabuddin allegedly in a fake encounter in the state.
The court said it will pass its order after receiving a report from the Gujarat government whether it would be able to produce Kausar Bi, wife of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, who was branded as a Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant and killed in an encounter.
He was, however, released after producing a personal bond as he has already got an anticipatory bail from a local court, the CID official said.
The CID has so far arrested six policemen in the fake encounter case, including the three IPS officers D G Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian and Dinesh M N. The three IPS officials were arrested on April 24.
Inspector N H Dabhi, and constables Ajay Parmar and Santram Sharma were produced before a magistrate by the state CID (Crime), which is probing the case.
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the Gujarat fake encounter case.
The concerned official is known to have worked with one of the arrested senior IPS officers, D G Vanzara, when he was heading the Ahmedabad Crime Branch.
The three are likely to be taken to Hyderabad during their remand, CID sources said on Wednesday.
Controversial IPS official D G Vanzara, however, claimed that the charges against him were interpolation and concocted.
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