Ishrat case: Contempt petition against Jaitley withdrawn

A petition seeking contempt of court proceedings against senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley was on Friday withdrawn after HC expressed its reservations.

Ahmedabad: A petition, seeking contempt of court proceedings against senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley for his article in relation to fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan and three others, was on Friday withdrawn after High Court expressed its reservations.

The High Court bench of Justices Jayant Patel and Z K Saiyed observed that, "in democracy everybody has a right to know and right to express their opinions. Courts are not swayed by it." However, when the petitioner`s lawyer Mukul Sinha insisted that they would like to pursue the matter, Justice Patel said, "Propriety demands that we should not initiate any proceedings as another bench of this court is seized with the matter (Ishrat Jahan encounter case)." The court in its order granted permission to NGO Jan Sangarsh Manch, which had filed the petition, to withdraw it with the liberty to file it again so it can be heard by the appropriate bench. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, who is himself a noted lawyer, had on his blog on June 3 written an article titled `Should CBI uncover the IB`, in relation to the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case. The article featured on the leader`s blog after CBI summoned senior IB (Intelligence Bureau) officer Rajendra Kumar. In his article, Jaitley had said Congress was behind CBI move to question IB in the Ishrat Jahan case and said such "misuse" of government institutions for political purposes will destroy them. The petition said: "It is humbly submitted that unless strict action under contempt of court act is not initiated against the respondent (Jaitley) he would completely thwart the free and fair investigation that has been entrusted by this court in the fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan, since he (Jaitley) holds extremely high position in the society as a leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha." PTI