Supreme court raps state govt; wants to find if there was ‘larger conspiracy’.
In a major setback to the Narendra Modi government, the supreme court on Tuesday handed over the investigation of the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case to the Central Bureau of the Investigation (CBI).
The bench of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Aftab Alam delivered this order on the writ petition that was filed by Sohrabuddin’s brother, Rubabuddin Shaikh, requesting a CBI probe into the entire incident. Officers of the Gujarat police are accused of killing Sohrabuddin, his wife Kauserbi and his friend, Tulsi Prajapati, in fake encounters.
The apex court also asked the CBI to investigate if there was any “larger conspiracy” behind the killings, and submit its report within six months.
In its hard-hitting judgement, the bench came down heavily on the Gujarat government for failing to conduct an impartial investigation, and attempting to “mislead” the apex court by filing conflicting action taken reports (ATRs).
The court also expressed its displeasure at the failure of the Gujarat police’s SIT, headed by Inspector-General of Police Geetha Johri, in identifying the seven Andhra Pradesh police personnel who had assisted the local police in the encounter.
The bench also referred to Johri’s neglect of the reports of an earlier investigating officer, VL Solanki. “Mr VL Solanki…was proceeding in the right direction, but Ms Johri had not been carrying out the investigation in the right manner…. We are of the view that her mentioning the criminal background of Sohrabbuddin, and the discussion among the accused officers concerning Sohrabbuddin was meant to obfuscate the enquiry,” the bench said.
So far, only the state CID has conducted investigations in the case. It had arrested 14 police officers, including two IPS officers of Gujarat cadre, DG Vanzara and Rajkumar Pandiyan, and an IPS officer of Rajasthan cadre, Dinesh MN.
The charge-sheet in the case has been filed by the state CID. But the apex court held that, despite the charge-sheet, the investigation “cannot be said to be satisfactorily held,” as the crime was committed not by a third party but allegedly by Gujarat police personnel.
The bench further observed that in view of the alleged involvement of Gujarat police in the crime, “we cannot shut our eyes and direct the state police authorities to continue with the investigation.”
For a proper and fair investigation, the CBI should take up the investigation, the bench said, and submit its report in this court within six months. Both Rubabuddin Shaikh and his lawyer in Ahmedabad, Mukul Sinha, have welcomed the supreme court’s decision.
Currently, the case papers are lying with the city Sessions court. The CBI is expected to start investigations once the papers are handed over to it. The local court was not able to frame charges against the accused police officers as the SC had stayed trial in the case. All the accused police officers are behind bars at the Sabarmati jail.
(With agencies)
n INSIDE: ‘I have much to tell’ Rubabuddin interview; Detailed coverage: P4
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