In a major blow to the state government, Gujarat high court on Thursday ordered Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, rejecting state government’s appeal to hand over the probe to Gujarat police.
In a major blow to the state government, Gujarat high court on Thursday ordered Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case, rejecting state government’s appeal to hand over the probe to Gujarat police.
What is perhaps even more worrying for accused in this case is that the bench consisting of justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari has given the CBI the liberty to solicit help of Gujarat IPS officer Satish Verma, a key member of the SIT which recently concluded that Ishrat Jahan’s encounter was fake and she and four others were killed in cold blood.
The state had appealed the court to keep Verma away from further investigations saying that he is already facing criminal charges.
The court asked CBI to take over the probe at the earliest after ordering RR Verma, chairman of the high court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) to file a fresh FIR against the erring cops within two weeks. The members of the CBI team, which will probe the case, will be announced later.
Rejecting state government appeal, court said Gujarat police doesn’t instill confidence among victims, further denting the already tarnished image of state police.
This is the fourth case after Sohrabuddin, Tulsi Prajapati and Sadik Jamal encounter, which has been handed over to CBI as state police failed to enjoy courts’ confidence.
The bench said, “All top, high officials of the state upto the rank of the then DGP may fall within the ambit of investigation in connection with the registration of another/fresh FIR.”
Significantly, while rejecting the state government’s contention that the state police should be allowed to probe the case now, the bench criticised its role in dealing with the case over the years.
The bench mentioned 12 important points which raise serious doubts about the intentions of the state.
Listing out the reason why the existing SIT was not asked to probe the case, court said that majority of the members had requested the court to be relieved from the case. On the other hand, the National Investigative Agency (NIA), which even state government supported was not given the task because the offence does not come under the charter of rules which govern the agency. SIT’s first chairman Karnail Singh’s report became one of the main grounds for court to not hand over probe to the police as he had demanded probe into the state’s role in derailing the investigation in Ishrat case.
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