Ex-Minister Told To Stay Out Of Gujarat; Hearing On CBI Plea On Nov 15

CBI’s speedy appeal surprises SC

Ex-Minister Told To Stay Out Of Gujarat; Hearing On CBI Plea On Nov 15



New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Saturday refused to annul the bail granted to former Gujarat minister and Sohrabuddin fake encounter case accused Amit Shah but ensured he stayed out of the state till further orders taking note of CBI’s apprehension that he would influence witnesses.
A bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha, which assembled at the former’s residence in the evening after day-long hectic consultations, heard an urgent appeal filed by the investigating agency airing serious apprehension that Shah’s release on bail by Gujarat high court would virtually give him licence to influence witnesses in the case given the political clout he enjoyed in the BJP-ruled state.
Though CBI itself showed uncanny haste in moving the apex court on Friday night itself within hours of the HC granting bail, it accused the state administration of showing alacrity in getting Shah out of jail at 10.30pm on Friday allegedly in violation of the jail manual barring release of inmates after sunset.
Seldom has CBI moved the SC so late at night and insisted on an immediate hearing perplexing the court officials. When they expressed their inability to do so since it was close to midnight on Friday, the CBI counsel relented only to renew his request early on Saturday morning, forcing officials to reach the apex court at 9.30am. After a lot of consultations, a bench of two judges could be assembled at 5pm.
During the hearing, CBI counsel K T S Tulsi and Subramonium Prasad sought cancellation of Shah’s bail by saying that if the former minister remained out of jail, there was ample evidence to show that he would influence the witnesses.
But the bench appeared to outrightly reject the plea for cancellation of bail saying “he is already out and that it cannot be cancelled”. However, it saw some merit in CBI’s apprehension and asked Shah’s counsel Bina Madhavan and Bhupendra Yadav whether it would be possible for Shah to stay out of Gujarat till further orders.
The hearing was adjourned briefly as the counsel came out and held urgent consultations with Shah, who agreed to leave Gujarat by Sunday morning and stay out of the state till further orders. When this was conveyed to the SC bench, it issued notice to Shah and Gujarat government seeking their responses by November 10 and posted CBI’s appeal for detailed hearing on November 15.

CBI’s speedy appeal surprises SC


New Delhi: Seldom has the CBI shown such unusual haste in moving the Supreme Court as it did on Friday night. It filed an appeal within hours of the Gujarat High Court granting bail to Sohrabuddin fake encounter case accused and former state minister Amit Shah.
But the Narendra Modi government, which recently won a landslide victory in civic polls focusing on the alleged misuse of CBI by the Congress-led UPA government, was one up on the CBI.
The filing of the appeal through counsel Subramonium Prasad at 10.30 pm on Friday virtually coincided with Shah being let out of the Sabarmati jail, where he had been lodged since his arrest in July. He had received high-profile visitors like L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley there.
“The state government knew that if Shah was not released from prison last night itself, however late it might be and even if it was in breach of jail manual, there was every chance that his bail could be cancelled by SC given the solid evidence the CBI was preparing to place before the apex court,” CBI sources said.
So the state authorities worked overtime to ensure Shah was out of jail much before the hearing in the SC. Senior advocate KTS Tulsi focused on breach of jail manual in the release of Shah as also the apprehension that he might influence witnesses.
And that was exactly what happened on Saturday. The special Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha told the CBI that it would not cancel Shah’s bail without hearing him as he had already been out of jail.
With Shah agreeing to stay out Gujarat till further orders of the SC on CBI’s appeal, there was little the agency could do but to satisfy itself with the achievement that it was able to keep Shah away from the witnesses.
The agency is now worried that Shah’s getting bail could prompt accused cops D G Vanzara, Dinesh MN and Rajkumar Pandiyan to move the HC for similar relief.