Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court Friday
granted bail to former state minister Amit Shah over three
months after he was arrested by the CBI in the Sohrabuddin
Sheikh fake encounter case.
Justice R H Shukla granted bail to 46-year-old Shah on a
personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and a condition that he will have
to appear before the CBI's Mumbai office every month as the
case is registered there.
The court also rejected the demand of the CBI to grant
three weeks stay on the bail order as the agency would like to
appeal against the verdict. This plea was made by CBI counsel
Yogesh Ravani.
Shah's lawyer Nirupam Nanavati assured the court that his
client would comply with all the terms and conditions of the
bail and also any additional terms which the CBI would like to
impose.
He was arrested by the CBI on July 25 and he has spend
over three months in the Sabarmati jail here.
Shah, a close aide of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra
Modi, has been described by the CBI as the "kingpin" of the
conspiracy leading to the fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh
in November 2005 and killing of two key witnesses,
Soharabuddin's wife Kausarbi and his close aide Tulsiram
Prajapati.
Earlier, a CBI court had rejected the bail application
of Shah.
The CBI court while rejecting the bail application of
Shah on October 8 had said there is every likelihood that if
Shah is released on bail he may misuse his political power to
hamper investigation.
Shah is likely to be released from the Sabarmati jail
after the due process is over, Nanavati said.
The three-month legal battle between the CBI and Shah
witnessed a clash of senior lawyers like Ram Jethmalani who
represented the latter and K T S Tulsi who appeared for the
investigating agency.
Jethmalani during his arguments had said the CBI court's
order of not granting bail to Shah lacks judicial balance.
Jethmalani had argued that Sohrabuddin was an
extortionist and a racketeer and entire exercise to arrest
Shah was politically motivated to tarnish his reputation as
the investigating agency has no material evidence against him.
Tulsi had argued that Shah did not deserve bail as
he was threatening witnesses from inside the prison.
Amit Shah released from jail
Hours after being granted bail by
the Gujarat High Court in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake
encounter case, former junior Home Minister Amit Shah walked
out of the Sabarmati Jail here tonight and vowed to continue
his "battle for justice".
The BJP leader, a key accused in the 2005 case, was
arrested by CBI on July 25. Shah was released from the jail at
around 2200 hours after being behind bars for over 90 days.
"This is the battle for justice, justice is closer to
truth, and we are going to win it as we are on the side of
truth," Shah said addressing a gathering of his supporters
who had assembled at his residence.
"This is a long battle and there are going to be many
challenges. I have full confidence in the judicial system of
the country."
Shah thanked BJP leaders L K Advani, Nitin Gadkari and
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for supporting his family
members when he was in prison.
The 46-year-old BJP legislator was received by his family
members and party activists, who burst crackers and
distributed sweets on his arrival at his residence.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, October 30, 2010, 00:06