Sohrabuddin Shaikh: CBI wanted to implicate political leaders says special court

Mumbai, Dec 29: A Special CBI court that acquitted all 22 accused in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case said that the CBI instead of finding the truth had a pre-meditated theory and a script intended to implicate political leaders.

The court in its 350 page verdict said that it had no intention of recording that during the probe of these officers, the CBI was doing something other than reaching the truth of these offences.

The verdict also said, "my predecessor has, while passing an order of discharge in the application of accused number 16 (Amit Shah) clearly recorded that the investigation was politically motivated. Having given my dispassionate consideration to the entire material placed before me and having examined each of the witnesses and the evidence closely, I have no hesitation in recording that the premier investigating agency like CBI had before it a pre-meditated theory and a script intended to anyhow implicate political leaders."

The judgment also said that the CBI had created evidence and placed witness statements in the chargesheet, but they failed to withstand judicial scrutiny. Those witnesses "deposed fearlessly before the court clearly indicate that their purported statements were wrongly recorded by the CBI during investigation to justify its script to implicate political leaders," the judgement also read.

There is 'regret' that three persons were killed, which was going unpunished. The judge also added that he has no option but to conclude that the accused are not guilty.'

"The CBI has also failed to establish presence of the accused police personnel at the spot of the alleged incident," the order said.