Third Judge in row recuses to hear Abhay Chudasama’s bail plea

Ahmedabad, 25 April 2012

A Gujarat High Court judge on Wednesday recused himself form hearing the bail plea of suspended IPS officer Abhay Chudasama who is currently behind bars on the charge of being the key conspirator in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

When the matter came up for hearing before Justice Bankim Mehta, he recused himself from the case, saying “not before me”.

Exactly before a week, on last Wednesday, another High Court Judge MD Shah had also rescued self from the case. He did not give any reason for it.The matter was then sent to the Chief Justice who assigned the case to another judge Bankim Mehta.

Justice Shah was the second HC judge who excused himself from the hearing on Chudasama’s bail application. Justice Z K Saiyed too had recused himself from hearing the bail petition of the suspended officer in October last.

After Justice Saiyed declined, the case was heard for some time by Justice K M Thaker. But after the change in roster, the bail matters were assigned to Justice Shah. During the hearing, the investigating agency CBI opposed Chudasama’s bail contending that if let out he could “intimidate” witnesses and tamper with evidence.