Ishrat Jahan encounter case: Court rejects DG Vanzara's plea seeking charge sheet copy

A court here today rejected suspended IPS officer DG Vanzara's plea seeking a copy of the supplementary charge sheet filed by CBI in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of CBI court H S Khutvad had reserved the order yesterday. Vanzara's counsel, V D Gajjar, had contended that even after 20 days of filing of the charge sheet it had not been taken on record by the court. "Under section 206 of the criminal procedure code, it is magistrate's duty to provide the copy to the accused," Gajjar contended.

Khutwad had earlier told Gajjar that the charge sheet had not yet been verified, so the copy could not be given.

But Gajjar argued that Vanzara had been made an accused in the first charge sheet itself, and he needed a copy of the supplementary charge sheet to make his case for bail strong. 

Ishrat was allegedly murdered with her friend Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, and two others, believed to be Pakistani nationals, on June 15, 2004 by the state police officers in a encounter termed as fake by CBI.

On February 6, CBI filed the supplementary charge sheet which named Rajinder Kumar, joint director of the IB in Gujarat at that time, as a key conspirator.