Ahmedabad, 1 December, 2011

Gujarat High Court today handed over Ishrat Jahan encounter case to central government controlled investigative agency CBI.

A division bench of justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari asked SIT chief R R Verma to file an FIR within two weeks and transfer the case to the central investigation agency, observing that the case should be considered as an “exceptional one which has national ramifications”.

The HC also ordered CBI to probe into the claims made by the Gujarat Police post the 2004 killings that Ishrat and three others were LeT terrorists on a mission to kill Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Ruling out handing over the sensitive case to the Gujarat Police, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) and the SIT, the bench listed out a set of reasons for its mandate in favour of CBI.The court enumerated 12 reasons why the case should not be given to state police.

In a clear reference to trust deficit in Gujarat Police, the court said, “The agency to probe the case must instill confidence and should have credibility among the victims, therefore we find it fit not to assign the case to the state police”.

The court also ruled out assigning the investigations to the SIT citing difference of opinion among its members and majority of them being not willing to continue with the probe as the reason for not handing over the responsibility to it.

The HC also did not give its mandate to NIA, citing the issues concerning its jurisdiction and competence, besides limited scope for cases that it can take up.

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