CBI is after Narendra Modi, says Ram Jethmalani

Former minister Amit Shah's lawyer, Ram Jethmalani,
on Thursday said in court that the CBI's real target behind its
arrest of Shah in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case
was Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

The senior Supreme Court lawyer made this statement while arguing in Ahmedabad before special CBI judge GK Upadhyay during the hearing on Shah's bail plea.

He criticised the CBI for "making Sohrabuddin, a wanted criminal, a national icon".

Jethmalani said that the probe agency's motive behind Shah's arrest was political. "The aim of the CBI was to get to the chief minister of the state (Modi), and Shah was the last step of the ladder to reach him," he alleged.

Jethmalani pointed to what he claimed was a communication between the CBI officials investigating the Sohrabuddin case and the probe agency's headquarters in New Delhi.

In the communication, the officials had sought permission to investigate into the possible involvement of Modi in the case, the lawyer claimed.

Jethmalani also placed before the court a letter dated April
14, 2010, which he claimed was an internal letter of the CBI in which the investigating officer of the fake encounter case had sought permission from the agency's director to arrest some senior police officers and Shah. They were refused permission as the headquarters did not find their argument convincing, Jethmalani alleged.

However, the CBI's lawyer, KTS Tulsi, objected to the contents of the letter. He stated that the letter on which Jethmalani was relying was not the letter that was sent by the CBI and that portions of the letter were fabricated.

Alleging that the probe agency had tried to shut out the role of Andhra Pradesh police in the case, Jethmalani said that this was because the southern state is ruled by the Congress, while Gujarat is ruled by the BJP.

The argument of Jethmalani was partly over and further hearing is scheduled for September 22. CBI senior counsel KTS Tulsi had sought time to file a reply to Jethmalani's arguments and will now do so by the next hearing.