Amit Shah granted bail in encounter case; CBI snubbed

New Delhi, Sept 27: In what can be seen as a reprieve to former

Home Minister Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin fake

case, the Supreme Court has agreed to transfer the trail from Gujarat to Mumbai and permitted Shah to travel to Gujarat in view of upcoming elections

The CBI's appeal to cancel Shah's bail plea was categorically rejected by the Supreme Court. Amit Shah is also an accused in the Tulsi Prajapati fake encounter case and has been chargesheeted by the CBI. The apex court had barred Shah from entering Gujarat after acquiring bail in the Sohrabuddin case.

CBI had approached the apex court against the bail granted to Shah by the Gujarat High Court in the case of fake encounter killing of gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh and for shifting the trial of the case to a place outside Gujarat.

Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi were allegedly abducted by Gujarat's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) from Hyderabad and killed in a fake encounter near Gandhinagar in Nov 2005.

The sensational Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case has been in the limelight after he was allegedly killed in a fake encounter in Nov 2005 and another of his close aide Tulsi was also killed in Dec 2006 by same police personnel. These police personnel are currently in jail for their role in the killing of Sohrabuddin Shaikh and his wife Kauser Bi.

In a moral victory of sorts for the BJP in Gujarat, Shah was out of bail in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. Shah's proximity to Gujarat CM Narendra Modi had also led to some intense media scrutiny. Shah had quit from the Modi government in July last year after having been slapped with charges of kidnapping and murder in connection with the case. CBI has alleged that he was the "kingpin" of the conspiracy in the case.

Prakash Javadekar, BJP spokesperson has been quoted as saying on the SC verdict, "We are really happy that Amit Shah will now be able to go to Gujarat and campaign." This assumes much importance when CM Modi is on a whirlwind tour of the state ahead of the Gujarat elections.

OneIndia News