The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the CBI to furnish the Gujarat government and other accused with documents being relied upon by it for transferring outside the state the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case trial allegedly involving former state minister Amit Shah.
A bench of justices Aftab Alam and R.M. Lodha in an order asked the CBI to furnish the state government, Mr Shah and other accused with copies of certain portions from the first status report submitted by the agency to the court in June 2010.
The apex court passed the direction while posting to February 23, hearing of the agency’s plea for transfer of the case on the ground that the trial could not be held in a free and fair atmosphere as “even the judge hearing it had become servile” to Mr Shah.
The bench passed the direction after senior counsel Ram Jethmalani appearing for Mr Shah and Ranjit Kumar for the state government insisted that certain material relied upon by the agency to charge the accused have not been furnished to them.
“It is wholly inconsistent with any principles, principles of natural justice or the Indian Evidence Act,” Mr Jethmalani said during the arguments.
He submitted that the CBI had claimed 200 complaints of extortion registered against the accused.
—PTI