Ishrat Jahan case: Gujarat HC rejects PP Pandey`s advanced bail plea

The CBI court on Wednesday issued a warrant against Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Prithvi Pal Pandey.

Zee Media Bureau Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday rejected ADGP P P Pandey`s application challenging the order of special CBI court, which had rejected his anticipatory bail plea and declined to offer further protection from arrest by the CBI in the Ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter case. A single judge bench comprising Justice AJ Desai rejected Pandey`s application challenging the order of special CBI court, which had yesterday rejected his anticipatory bail application on the ground that investigation in the case is pending and at a crucial juncture. Justice Desai also declined to offer further protection from arrest by CBI. Earlier, Pandey`s counsel Nirupam Nanavati argued that the senior IPS officer cannot be declared a proclaimed offender as he has complied with the orders of the Supreme Court. "The stigma attached to conduct of my client, may not disappear, but stands diluted as I`ve complied with the orders of the Supreme Court," Nanavati argued. Nanavati further said that the role assigned to Pandey in the FIR filed by the CBI and the subsequent charge sheet does not in any way suggest he was present at the time of the encounter at the place of the encounter, nor does he know anything about the encounter. Nanavati asked "Why does CBI want to arrest Pandey? Why do you require Pandey`s custodial interrogation when charge sheet has been filed, evidences collected and statements of witnesses recorded?" "CBI is anxious to arrest my client, it is chasing him, to elicit a desired, tailored statement," Nanavati argued, challenging the order of the special CBI judge. The Gujarat High Court had earlier restrained the CBI from arresting the senior IPS officer till August 06. The 1982-batch IPS officer was Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Ahmedabad, when Ishrat Jahan and her three associates were eliminated in stage shootout. The Mumbai college girl and her three associates - Javed Pranesh Gopinath Pilai, Amjad Ali and Jishan Johar - were killed by the Gujarat Police on June 15, 2004. Initially, the investigation into the killing was carried out by the Gujarat Police which had filed a closure report, claiming Ishrat Jahan and the others were terrorists who came from Jammu and Kashmir to assassinate Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

On the plea by Ishrat Jahaan`s mother Shamima Kausar, the Gujarat High Court entrusted investigation to a Special Investigation Team. However, on another plea by Pillai`s father, Gopinath Pillai, the high court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the investigation. According to the CBI chargesheet, the encounter was fake. With Agency Inputs