CBI to approach SC in Haren Pandya murder case

Gujarat HC dropped murder charges against the 12 accused in the killing of former minister Haren Pandya.

After receiving flak from Gujarat High Court for “botched up” and “blinkered” probe in the Haren Pandya muder case,the CBI on Monday decided to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.

A decision in this regard was taken today at a meeting of senior officials here,agency sources said.

They said it was decided that a Special Leave Petition will be filed in the apex court after going through detailed analysis of the High Court verdict.

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The High Court on Monday dropped murder charges against the 12 accused in the killing of former minister Haren Pandya eight years ago.

While acquitting the 12 persons of the murder charges,the court upheld the trial court’s decision to convict them for criminal conspiracy,attempt to murder and offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Pandya,who was a former minister of state for home in a BJP government and was once close to Chief Minister Narendra Modi,was shot dead on March 26,2003 in Ahmedabad when he was out for a morning walk. According to CBI,Pandya was murdered to avenge the 2002 communal riots.

Criticising the CBI,the court observed,”What clearly stands out from the record of the present case is that the investigation in the case of murder of Haren Pandya has all throughout been botched up and blinkered and has left a lot to be desired.”

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