Jethwa was shot point-blank by two men on July 20, 2010, outside the HC gates.
A special CBI court on Saturday convicted former BJP parliamentarian Dinu Bogha Solanki for the murder of a right to information activist ten years ago. Solanki had represented Junagadh in the Lok Sabha between 2009 and 2014.
Days before his killing, RTI activist Amit Jethwa had exposed illegal mining in and around Gir forest, home to Asiatic lions, and had filed a public interest litigation at the Gujarat High Court to highlight the malpractice.
Judge KM Dave held Solanki, the former MP's nephew Shiva and five others guilty of murder and criminal conspiracy under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. The convicts will be sentenced on July 11.
Jethwa was shot point-blank by two men on July 20, 2010, outside the HC gates. Several lawyers, including Anand Yagnik, who would go on to represent Jethwa's father in the HC, were among witnesses in the case.
The RTI activist's father Bhikabhai had moved the HC in 2013 after the Ahmedabad crime branch chargesheeted Shiva and five others but gave Solanki a clean chit. In his petition, Bhikabhai said 104 of 196 witnesses turned hostile as Solanki had pressured them.
Following Bhikabhai's appeal, the HC ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation even though the trial in the case was over. It also replaced the then Special Judge Dinesh L Patel. The CBI then named Solanki as the conspirator and arrested him, eventually securing his conviction.
"It has been proved that the law of the land will prevail. My son has got justice," Bhikabhai said after the verdict on Saturday. Yagnik, however, rued that the CBI, which nailed Solanki, did not do enough to protect witnesses. "This is why so many witnesses turned hostile," he said and added: "The BJP which had in 2013 said Solanki's arrest was a conspiracy of the Congress should take back its words now."
The Case
- RTI activist Amit Jethwa had exposed illegal mining in and around Gir forest and filed a PIL
- He was shot point-blank by two men in July 2010 outside the high court gate
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 "Dinu Bogha Solanki")
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