Ishrat Jahan case: Contempt notice to Gujarat official

Thursday April 21, 2011 10:31:12 PM, IANS

Gandhinagar: The Gujarat High Court Thursday issued notice for contempt proceedings against a senior state home ministry official for delaying transfers of the top police officers in relation to the Ishrat Jehan staged shootout case. The notice is returnable May 11.

A high court bench of Justice Jayant Patel and Justice Abhilasha Kumari issued notice to the additional chief secretary of the home department while hearing the status report filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is probing the shootout under its orders.

The court had earlier directed the government to transfer three police officers - additional DGP P.P. Pande, superintendent of police G.L. Singhal and deputy superintendent of police Tarun Barot - who are the target of investigation by the SIT.

Justice Patel told Advocate General Kamal Trivedi that prima facie, the state did not comply with the court's order and it would like to initiate contempt proceedings against the officer who failed to comply with the orders.

Justice Patel said: "There is material on record to suggest that the officers were not transferred till the Central Forensic Team and team from AIIMS visited the state. Prima facie it seems to have been an attempt of the state to hamper the investigation."

The court also allowed the SIT chief, Karnail Singh, to be relieved from the team. The court noted that considering the stand taken by the Mizoram government, where Singh has been transferred, it was desirable to relieve him from the SIT.

Demarcating duties, the court then handed over the actual investigation of the case to SIT member Satish Verma while directing the other member, Mohan Jha to look after the administrative work. The court has allowed Verma the discretion to choose any officer who is not connected with the case for assisting him and directed the government to spare such an officer for help in carrying out the probe.

Instead of allowing registration of second FIR in the case, the court wanted the SIT to conduct the probe at this stage based on the first FIR. The court however allowed Verma to interrogate and arrest people that may be required based upon the material available with him.

The court also concurred with Karnail Singh's submission seeking direction to the National Investigtion Agency (NIA) to provide the SIT with a report which it has sought in connection with the case. Justice Patel told central government counsel P.S. Champaneri that if the NIA had any difficulty in furnishing the information, then it should be reported to the court.

The court has further directed the central government to propose an officer of a higher rank than Verma and Jha, who the court may include in the SIT as a chairman.

The matter is now slated to come up on May 12.

The court took the view that the said instance, coupled with non transfer of the three police officers who may influence the investigation, non availability of the chairman of SIT and his reliving order by the state, and other instances, leads the court to believe that the "attitude" of the state is not proper.

Ishrat Jahan, Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in a staged shootout in outskirts of Ahmedabad in June 2004 by the city crime branch officials. The police had termed them as LeT operatives on mission to kill the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.


 

                                           Home | Top of the Page

Top Stories

PM firm on Lokpal bill as Bhushans fight more taint

As clouds of controversy darkened over Lokpal bill drafting committee co-chair Shanti Bhushan with fresh demands for his ouster and his civil society   »

Hegde mulls quitting Lokpal Bill drafting panel

Petition filed against Anna Hazare in court

  Most Read

British rulers sowed seeds of communalism in India: Justice Markanday Katju

The British rulers in India through re-writing of history painted the eight hundred Muslim reign in the country with misrule wherein showcasing their Kings and Nawabs  »

RTE Act violations: Dirty school toilets major complaint

Dirty, non-functional toilets form a major chunk of the complaints filed by parents in Delhi under violation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. According to a statement by the National   »

RTE Act one year on: 8 million children still missing school

  News Pick

Pakistan PM doesn't own a car, saves half his annual salary

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf raza Gilani is a man of frugal means - if one goes by his declared assets. He doesn't own a car and managed to save over half of his annual salary, which his is only source of income  »

Pakistanis happier than Indians: Gallup survey

India has ranked 71st in happiness with only 17 percent people describing themselves as "thriving" in a new study of well-being that gives Denmark the top spot among 124 countries surveyed. With Danes ranked the most   »

A death that gave life to five people

Though she died in a road accident last week, 17-year-old Reena will live in the collective memory of five patients who have got a new lease of life because of her donated organs. Reena, a resident of Jind in Haryana, was seriously   »

Tech savvy politicos bat for social media

Former minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor, one of the early Indian politicians to get hooked to Twitter, feels that political leaders have realised that social media was the right platform to reach out to a large number of people.  »

Indian American Satish Tripathi appointed US varsity president

Reputed Indian American computer scientist Satish K. Tripathi, a Banaras Hindu University alumnus, has been appointed president  »

Picture of the Day

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his wife Mrs Gursharan Kaur in a procession for laying wreath ceremony at Monument of the Defenders of Motherland, at Astana, in Kazakhstan on April 16, 2011.

(Photo: Shivraj)