Ishrat case: SC not in favour of CBI probe

The Supreme Court voiced strong dissent against frequent appeals made before it to transfer every other criminal case to the CBI.

The Supreme Court on Monday voiced strong dissent against frequent appeals made before it to transfer every other criminal case to the CBI,saying it is not always in a position to do this.

A Bench of Justices Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar passed the observation while hearing a petition filed by Shamima Kauser,the mother of Ishrat Jahan,seeking a CBI probe into her daughters death in a Gujarat police encounter.

Every case cannot be probed by CBI. We are not in favour of handing over each and every case to CBI, said the court. Advocate Kamini Jaiswal,Kausers lawyer,countered that this particular case deserved CBIs attention as many senior top police officers are involved.

The Gujarat High Court had on August 12 directed the transfer of the case from the state police to the Supreme Courts Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by former CBI chief R K Raghavan. But the SIT,through its convenor Ashish Bhatia,subsequently filed an application in the High Court,saying it cannot accept the case. Kauser,meanwhile,approached the apex Court against the specific part of the High Courts order transferring the case to SIT,saying she wanted a CBI probe.

In its order,the apex court gave the Gujarat High Court liberty to find an appropriate probe body with due consideration to opposition registered by Raghavans SIT.