Sadiq Jamal’s brother seeks details of encounter probe; he has no right to, says CBI

“The victim has no locus standi to ask the details of progress of the case which is still going on. The scheme of CrPC is very clear that the investigating officer is the master of the investigation and no one else can venture out asking manner and method of the investigation except the judiciary under extraordinary situation,” Kodekar argued.

Besides, under Section 173 (8) of the CrPC, there is no time limit to conclude the investigation, he said. Kodekar also opposed other prayers of Shabbir such as arraigning police officers from Gujarat and Maharashtra and politicians as accused in the case and the role of Mumbai-based former journalist Ketan Tirodkar. He said that these prayers fall under further investigation which can’t be disclosed at this juncture.

Sadiq Jamal Mehtar, a resident of Bhavnagar who used to stay in Mumbai, was shot dead by a team of the Gujarat police near Galaxy Cinema in Naroda area of Ahmedabad in January 2003. The police had said that he was a Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist terrorist who was on a mission to kill the then chief minister Narendra Modi, BJP leader L K Advani and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi.

However, the CBI investigation claimed that he was brought to Ahmedabad from the custody of the Mumbai police and killed in a staged encounter by retired DySP Tarun Barot and seven other junior rank officers. The matter will be heard again next week.