3 min readNew DelhiMar 4, 2016 01:51 AM IST
First published on: Mar 4, 2016 at 01:51 AM IST
Congress leader Veerappa Moily is the chairperson of Parliamentary standing committee on finance.
WITH THE row over the second affidavit in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case refusing to die down, Law Minister in UPA-II M Veerappa Moily Thursday said there was nothing wrong with the Centre submitting a revised affidavit since new facts had come to light. He also asked why the then Home Secretary, G K Pillai, kept silent for so long if he had any objections to the affidavit filed in September 2009.
“Even G K Pillai as Home Secretary was aware of the truth of how Ishrat was killed, and this is what he has even said now. He is also aware that IB only provides information and is not an investigating agency,” Moily told The Indian Express. “If he had any issue with the second affidavit, he should have brought it on record. Why he kept silent then is for him to explain. Wasn’t he doing his job properly?”
Moily said, “The then Home Secretary has disowned his responsibility today. I think it is highly condemnable.” He said it was the norm that after an affidavit is finalised by the administrative ministry, it refers it to the Law Ministry or Attorney General.
He said that Pillai’s own comments that Ishrat and her three aides were lured to Gujarat by the IB corroborated that they were killed in a fake encounter. “You bring them, then arrest them and shoot them down in custody. It is unknown in international law or in our own law,” Moily said.
Sources, meanwhile, revealed that an initial draft of the second affidavit filed by the Centre before the Gujarat High Court had been cleared by then Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati, and only “minor changes” were made to it by then Home Minister P Chidambaram.
The first file noting pertaining to the Centre’s second affidavit was of then Joint Secretary (Internal Security) D Diptivilasa, who put up a note to Pillai that a letter had to be sent to the Attorney General for filing an additional affidavit. Pillai signed the letter and sent it back.
When contacted, Diptivilasa said he did not wish to comment.
On September 23, 2009, Pillai wrote, “Additional affidavit needs to be filed by Union of India before the Gujarat High Court. It has been vetted by the Attorney General. This may be submitted for approval of the Home Minister.”
The following day, Chidambaram returned the file with the noting “as amended please show the clear copy before it is sent to court”. Pillai wrote on the file the same day, “clear copy shown to Home Minister. Please take further action”. He also wrote, “letter may be sent to Law Secretary and Attorney General for information”.
Congress leader Veerappa Moily is the chairperson of Parliamentary standing committee on finance.
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