Sohrabuddin case: Amit Shah was close to a CBI probe in 2005

The Gujarat government and the BJP have been accusing the CBI of implicating former minister of state (home), Amit Shah, in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case at the behest of the Congress. But five years back, it was Gujarat’s CID (crime) which had recommended a CBI probe into allegations that Shah had taken Rs2.5 crore as bribe from convicted scamster Ketan Parekh.

The recommendation was made by additional director general of police (ADGP) Kuldeep Sharma who was then ADGP CID (crime). In a letter (dated August 1, 2005) sent to the then chief secretary, Sudhir Mankad, Sharma had recommended a CBI inquiry after establishing that prima facie it appeared that some irregularities had taken place. Earlier this year, Sharma submitted this letter as annexure with the petition he filed before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Ahmedabad, seeking relief from alleged discrimination by the Gujarat government in the matter of promotion.

But no action was taken and Sharma, who is currently posted as managing director, Gujarat Sheep and Wool Development Corporation (GSWDC), was immediately shunted out of CID (crime). The state CID (crime) had initiated an inquiry after one Hasmukh Shah submitted a written complaint alleging that Amit Shah had favoured Parekh who was already under investigation by the CBI. Hasmukh Shah had claimed that he had sent copies of his complaint to the chief minister, the chief justice of India and others.

Parekh was under investigating by the CBI for cheating the Madhavpura Mercantile Co-operative Bank (MMCB) of Rs1030 crore. He was arrested and later granted bail on the condition that he return Rs380 crore to the bank within three years.

In 2003, the bank filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court with the plea that Parekh’s bail be cancelled as he had failed to pay the bank the Rs380 crore he was supposed to deposit within three years.

However, according to Sharma’s letter, a “political broker” named Girish Dani organised a meeting between Ketan Parekh and Amit Shah. Soon after that, the bank withdrew the SLP it had filed in the apex court for the cancellation of Parekh’s bail.

Besides holding the post of minister of state (home), Amit Shah was also the director of the Madhavpura bank.

Sharma had stated in his letter that an analysis of the phone call records of Amit Shah, Girish Dani and Ketan Parekh indicted that Dani was in regular contact with Shah and Parekh at about the time Parekh is alleged to have paid Rs2.5 crore to Shah as bribe.

“Discrete inquiries conducted by the state CID confirmed that Ketan Parekh was in Ahmedabad and a series of telephonic conversations had taken place between the minister and Girish Dani,” Sharma had said in his letter.