Sohrabuddin case: Bombay High Court says not getting enough assistance from CBI

“It is the primary duty of a prosecuting agency to place all evidence on record before the court. However, in this case, despite the court’s repeated queries, the CBI has chosen to argue only on the role of the two officials whose discharge it has challenged,” Justice Mohite-Dere said.

“I am still unclear on the prosecution’s overall case since I am not getting enough assistance from the CBI,” the judge said. The court has now directed the CBI to submit details of all the witnesses’ statements recorded under section 164 of the CrPC.

Since February 9 this year, when the hearings in the case began, each time that the court has sought documents like the charge sheet, witness statements, or seized letters related to the case, the CBI has maintained that it did not have the papers and sought time to procure it.

The CBI’s conduct had irked the court on previous occasions as well.

Last week, after the CBI sought time to produce a transcript from a voice recorder, Justice Mohite-Dere had said, “This is not how a premier probe agency is expected to work. You have to ensure all documents pertaining to the case are kept handy whenever this court wants to peruse them.”

The court is hearing two petitions filed by the CBI, and another three filed by Rubabuddin Shaikh, the brother of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, challenging the discharge of five of the 14 police officers by a special CBI court in the alleged fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi, and their aide Tulsiram Prajapati.