Ram Jethmalani accuses CBI of leaking charge sheet against Amit Shah

BJP MP and eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani today accused the CBI of leaking to the media details of the charge sheet against former Gujarat minister Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin encounter case.

"The accused does not have the charge sheet but the media has it. This is the CBI's design," Jethmalani, who is providing legal assistance to Shah, alleged.

He said excerpts of the charge sheet were being carried in newspaper reports everyday but Shah had still not been provided with a copy.

Jethmalani further alleged that this was misuse of the CBI and was improper. "I condemn it... CBI is holding press conferences," he said.

The senior lawyer said that the court had ordered that a copy of the charge sheet be handed over to Shah. 

Jethmalani had rushed to Ahmedabad yesterday, soon after taking oath as a BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan, to represent Shah, who is lodged in Sabarmati jail.

He had told the court that they had no problem with the interrogation of the BJP leader but demanded that the entire questioning should be recorded.

The court had directed that Shah's interrogation should be video recorded. 

Shah, a close aide of chief minister Narendra Modi, is facing murder, extortion and other charges in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case. He resigned as minister of state for home in the Gujarat government on Saturday after a charge sheet was filed against him.

The former minister was arrested on Sunday and sent to judicial custody till August 7.