The Supreme Court on Monday refused to pass any direction on pleas against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi seeking to make him a co-accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter killing on the basis of his alleged statement during an election campaign justifying the act.A Bench comprising Justices Tarun Chaterjee and Dalveer Bhandari, which heard heated exchanges between counsels from both the sides, including the amicus curiae, posted the matter for final hearing on December 12. Amicus curiae Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium said, “The statement of the Chief Minister is prima facie a complete interference with the process of justice.” He placed before the Bench a translated transcript of the speech given by Modi on December 4 and said what he spoke was opposite to what state Government’s special counsel K T S Tulsi had submitted before this court.The ASG was joined by senior advocate Dushyant Dave appearing for Rubabuddin Sheikh (Sohrabuddin’s brother) who said the CM’s statement was a “gross contempt of court”. Defending the CM, senior advocates Arun Jaitley and Mukul Rohatgi opposed their submission. “The matter can be taken when the tempers cool down,” Jaitley said, and at one time accused Dave of not following the decorum of court by saying that he was giving an election speech and should go to Gujarat. Dave shot back and said Jaitley has already reached Gujarat.While the two sides were trading charges against each other, the Bench expressed its annoyance saying “we are not accustomed to this”.
