Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday
reserved its order on the bail plea of former home minister
Amit Shah, accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter
case, till Friday.
Hearing the case, Justice R H Shukla reserved the
order after both CBI and Shah`s lawyers completed their
arguments.
Opposing Shah`s bail plea, Sohrabuddin`s brother
Rubabuddin today filed a written submission in the court
through his advocate Mukul Sinha.
Sinha submitted that Shah not only played a major role
in Sohrabuddin`s death in November 2005, but he was the one
who ordered the elimination of Sohrabuddin`s wife Karusar Bi
and a key witness Tusliram Prajapati.
He placed phone call records showing that Shah was in
constant touch through telephone with the accused in the case
during the period when Kausar Bi was killed and also during
the period when Prajapati was encountered by Gujarat Police in
December 2006.
Sinha claimed that Kausar Bi was killed in the state
ATS office here by accused N K Amin, soon after Sohrabuddin`s
encounter.
He said Amin, who wants to become an approver in the
case, had acted on the instruction of Shah and was in constant
touch with the former minister on phone.
Sinha said investigation in the case would show that
Amin had eliminated Kausar Bi on the orders of Shah.
The CBI charge sheet in the case has so far been
silent on how Kausar Bi was eliminated and by whom.
It has, however, mentioned in its charge sheet that
Kausar Bi was eliminated on Shah`s order and her body was
burnt by accused D G Vanzara somewhere in his native village
in Sabarkantha district.
Sinha also read out the statement of accused V A
Rathod before CBI stating that he had seen Kausar Bi`s body
which was burnt by Vanzara, for which wood was brought from
Ahmedabad.
Shah`s lawyer Nirupam Nanavati today claimed that CBI
had no evidence or material against his client, and hence he
should be granted bail.
Nanavati said after the CBI registered an FIR in the
fake encounter case on February 1, it sat down and scripted
how to implicate Shah into the conspiracy that led to the
killings of Sohrabuddin, his wife and Kausar Bi and his close
aide Tulsiram Prajapati.
He said his client was innocent and was being
victimised for political gains.
During the arguments, CBI senior counsel K T S Tulsi
had submitted that Shah was an influential person and the
entire state machinery was at his beck and call, using which
he was threatening witnesses and tampering with evidence.
Despite being in jail, Shah tried to influence
witnesses using the Gujarat Police, CBI had submitted.
Tulsi had said Shah was running an extortion racket
through an nexus of criminals, politicians and police
officers.
On the other hand, Shah`s lawyer Ram Jethmalani had
contended that CBI`s actions was politically motivated.
Referring to the rejection of Shah`s bail by lower
court, Jethmalani had said the court`s order lacked judicial
balance.
PTI
