Sohrabuddin encounter case: Will CBI court to release case against Amit Shah today?

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A special CBI court in Mumbai is supposed to decide on the discharge plea of BJP national president Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case today. Shah was arraigned as an accused for orchestrating the Sohrabuddin encounter.

If the special court of the CBI accepts Shah’s discharge application, the BJP President will not have to face trial in the case.

Last month Shah was granted exclusion from appearance before the CBI court till the framing of charges was complete. Shah had sought permanent exclusion but the court granted him one only till the charges are framed, a stage which is followed by commencement of trial.

In September 2013, the CBI had charge sheeted Shah – the former Home Minister of Gujarat – and 36 others, including several police officers. Shah was charged with criminal plan, smashing of evidence and offences under the Arms Act.

According to CBI, Sohrabuddin and his wife Kauser Bi were abducted by the Gujarat police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad in November 2005 and killed in a staged encounter near Gandhinagar. Sohrabuddin is stated to have demanded protection money from a businessman prior to his death.

Further, CBI says, Tulsiram Prajapati, an eyewitness to the fake encounter, was also killed by the police in another fake encounter at Chapri village in Banaskantha district of Gujarat in December 2006. Both cases are being heard simultaneously in the Mumbai Court.

Some of the accused, including Shah and former IPS officers of Gujarat D G Vanzara and Rajkumar Pandian, have being granted bail.

Taking into account the state threat to witnesses, the Supreme Court had transferred the trial of the case from Ahmedabad to Mumbai earlier this year.