Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter- Special Court to CBI: ‘Be prompt, vigilant in pursuing the case’

The Special CBI court in Mumbai hearing the encounter case of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kauserbi and Tulsiram Prajapati has appealed to the CBI officer to be “prompt and vigilant” in pursuing the case. The court’s remark came while rejecting a petition moved by an accused IPS officer for arraigning two key-witnesses as accused in the case. Special CBI judge M B Gosawi in its order last week stated that despite repeated adjournments CBI didn’t file any written submission following which the court had to request the CBI prosecutor to argue the case “without having any formal say in writing on the record.” The court’s order mentions that CBI lawyer “acceded to its request only with a view to save face of the prosecution”.

IPS officer Rajkumar Pandian, accused number 2 in the case, had moved an application for arraigning two key eye witnesses — Gurudayal Singh Chaudhary, Nathubha Jadeja — as accused in the case. The duo is posted in State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), Gandhinagar, as Assistant Sub-Inspector and constable in SRPF, respectively. Following Pandian’s application, the duo filed affidavits in the court retracting their statements recorded by Gujarat CID (crime), which first investigated the case, and then by the CBI which took over.

Chaudhary and Jadeja were posted as drivers in the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and were part of the team which allegedly kidnapped Sheikh, Kauserbi and Prajapati in 2005 from Sangli in Maharashtra, days before the encounter. The duo drove a private vehicle from Gujarat to Hyderabad and witnessed the incident. The CBI court rejected the application stating that “it is privilege of the prosecution as to whom to examine as its witness amongst the persons who are involved in the commission of crime at a particular stage.”