Ishrat Jahan encounter case: Mother Shamima Kauser moves special court to oppose discharge plea of Gujarat DGP

The special judge MK Pandya issued the notice to CBI and sought agency’s reply by January 20. Pandey has sought relief on the ground that no case is made out against him and the CBI has not charged him with any specific role in the case.

This is the first instance in Ishrat Jahan case, in which an accused has sought discharge from the trial court. The 1980 batch IPS, Pandey was arrested in July 2013 in the Ishrat encounter case who remained behind the bars for nearly 19 months. He was released on bail in February 2015 and was reinstated in the state police. Months after his promotion as DGP he was given the additional charge of police chief in April last year after sudden transfer of his predecessor P C Thakur.

Pandey, along with IPS officer G L Singhal, DSP N K Amin, retired IPS D G Vanzara and three other policemen, was chargesheeted by CBI for conspiracy, murder and kidnapping of 19-year-old Mumbai girl Ishrat Jahan, her friend Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai and two alleged Pakistani nationals in 2004. The CBI claimed in the chargesheet that they were killed in a staged encounter.