New Delhi: After its presentation to Union
Home Minister P Chidambaram on the Haren Pandya murder case,
the CBI has also apprised Law Minister Salman Khurshid about
its proposal to file a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme
Court challenging the acquittal of 12 people in the case.
Sources in CBI said a presentation was made to Khurshid
on the investigations made in the case and the legal points on
which the agency could approach the Supreme Court challenging
the Gujarat High Court order which dropped murder charges
against the 12 people in the killing of the former Gujarat
home minister in 2003.
Struggling to file an SLP challenging the high court
order, CBI had on September 6 made a presentation before
Chidambaram to seek his guidance over possible weakness in the
case.
The agency has been making attempts for filing an SLP in
the Supreme Court but sources privy to the developments said
that different voices were emerging on whether the probe
agency should file an SLP or not.
Pandya was shot dead on the morning of March 26, 2003
from close range in Law Garden area of Ahmedabad and CBI took
over investigation of the case. Prior to this offence, an
attempt was made on the life of local VHP leader Jagdish
Tewari on March 11.
The high court had, however, upheld the trial court`s
verdict convicting the 12 people of criminal conspiracy and
terrorism under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).
PTI
