CBI court rejects Jirawala’s bail plea

The special CBI court on Wednesday rejected the bail application of Raju Jirawala, the owner of the Ahram farm where Sohrabuddin and his wife were allegedly detained by the Gujarat police before their elimination.

The arguments in the case had concluded on Monday but the court had reserved its order till November 3 (Wednesday). During the arguments, Jirawala's counsel had said that the state CID, which had first investigated the fake encounter, had listed him as witness in the case. In the CBI's first chargesheet too, there was no mention of him but suddenly, two days after the filing of the chargesheet, the probe agency arrested Jirawala without any evidence, the counsel said. Jirawala's lawyer had further argued that his client had no role to play in the entire conspiracy; he was busy with a wedding in the family.

The CBI, on the other hand, had argued that Jirawala was aware of that the accused policemen had sought the farmhouse’s keys to keep Sohrab and his wife there; hence he also had a role in the conspiracy.

On the basis of the arguments that concluded on Monday, the court on Wednesday rejected Jirawala's bail application.