Gujarat’s former minister Amit Shah, arrested in connection with the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh killing, on Monday filed a bail plea in the CBI special court, which fixed August 2 for its hearing.
Noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani filed the bail plea of the former minister who was sent to 14 days judicial custody on Sunday after he surrendered before the investigating agency. Earlier, the CBI sought permission from the court to question Shah in jail. After his surrender on Sunday, the former minister was whisked away to the residence of a judge, who sent him to judicial custody as the CBI did not seek his remand. Before his surrender, Mr Shah made a dramatic appearance before the media at a press conference of the state BJP chief here before leaving for the CBI camp office in Gandhinagar to surrender. He was given a ceremonial send off from the party office with an “arti” and vermilion applied to his forehead. Mr Shah explained that he ignored the summons to appear in the CBI office on Thursday and Friday because he was convinced the 3,000-page chargesheet against him had been prepared in advance and his questioning was to be a sham. The Gujarat anti-terrorism squad (ATS) has been accused of killing Sheikh in a staged shootout November 26, 2005, in Ahmedabad. His wife Kauser-bi has been missing ever since. Mr Shah has been accused of calling up policemen involved in the killing of Sheikh, who police claimed was a Lashkar-e-Tayyaba operative.