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Embarrassed by affidavit, Centre to sack law officer

Law ministry distances itself from affidavit, says home ministry did not seek advice.

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Red faced over Union Home Ministry's affidavit supporting the Gujarat police contention in the case relating to the killing of Ishrat Jahan and three others in a police encounter in May 2004, the Centre has decided to take action against some of the officials involved.  The law ministry has decided to fire the Ahmedabad based law officer for his failure to inform his higher ups in Delhi about the affidavit being filed by a under secretary in the home ministry.

Embarrassed by the faux pas, senior law ministry functionaries have been trying to emphasise that the magisterial inquiry report will take precedence over the affidavit filed on August 6 by the home ministry. The magisterial inquiry report makes it clear that not only was the encounter in which Ishrat Jahan and three others were killed fake, but also that the four were not terrorists. "The magistrate's report is factual and it is the one that will carry weight," say law ministry sources.

   The move of the law ministry suggested action against Pankaj Champanery, who was appointed additional solicitor general a month back. Champanery was present at the hearing of the Ishrat case in Gujarat high court and also submitted the affidavit on behalf of the Central government. Champanery also represented the Centre on Wednesday as the Gujarat government filed petition challenging Tamang report. DNA tried to contact Champanery on Wednesday, but he was not available. A close aide of his, however, said he had not received any order removing him from his post.

The home ministry, on its part, defended the affidavit but not the encounter. Union home secretary GK Pillai said the ministry had provided the state government with whatever inputs it had, but that did not mean, "We supported the encounter." He said Ishrat Jahan and her associates should have been interrogated, not killed. The law ministry, however, sought to distance itself from the affidavit, maintaining that it had been submitted without being whetted by the ministry.

"The home minister did not seek our legal advice," said law ministry officials. What has upset the government functionaries more is the fact that not only the law ministry's advice in the matter was not taken, the ministry in its report said it did not consider the case to be fit to be investigated by the CBI.

The affidavit has severely embarrassed the ruling combine and allowed the Gujarat government to cite the affidavit to support its charge that Ishrat Jahan and those killed along with her were indeed terrorists. "What is worse for us is that the home ministry has gone and filed an affidavit even though the Modi government had not done so," said a senior Congress functionary.
(Nikunj Soni contributed to this report)

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