New Delhi

The first affidavit on Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in Gujarat in 2004, was changed by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram but the then Home Secretary G K Pillai did not record any dissent that he was not consulted.

The first affidavit was filed on the basis of inputs from Maharashtra and Gujarat Police besides the Intelligence Bureau where it was said that the 19-year-old girl from Mumbai outskirts was a Lashkar-e-Taiba activist but it was completely ignored in the second affidavit, file notings reveal.

The second affidavit, said to have been drafted by Chidambaram, negated every report and said there was no conclusive evidence to prove that she was a terrorist, official sources said.

The then Home Minister changed the entire affidavit without taking account of any of his officers and gave a clean chit to Ishrat, they said.

Quoting from file notings, the sources said, on September 23, 2009, Pillai sent the original affidavit to Chidambaram.

Chidambaram checked the file the next day writing “as amended” and giving direction that a clear copy should be shown to him before sending it to the court.

Pillai wrote in the file on September 24, 2009 that a clear copy was shown to the Home Minister.

It was also written in the file that a copy of the affidavit should be sent to the Law Secretary and Attorney General for “information”.

Since, Attorney General was not in Delhi, he did not see the second affidavit, the sources said.

The sources said any affidavit should be based on facts but the then Home Minister allegedly “gave his opinion” in affidavit.

Besides, Pillai did not write any dissent note in the file. Pillai was privy to the entire process but the decision to change the affidavit was taken without his consent, they said.

The Under Secretary was forced to sign the second affidavit before filing in the court, they claimed.

Pillai on Sunday claimed that as Home Minister during UPA government, Chidambaram had recalled the file a month after the original affidavit, which described Ishrat and her slain aides as LeT operatives, was filed in Supreme Court.

“Only after the affidavit was revised, as directed by the minister, did the file come to me,” Pillai was quoted as saying in a media report.

The then UPA government had submitted two affidavits – one that the four, who were killed in an alleged fake encounter, were terrorists and the second saying there was no conclusive evidence – within two months in 2009.

Chidambaram had said the second affidavit in the Ishrat encounter case was “absolutely correct” and as minister then “I accept the responsibility”.

He had also maintained that the intelligence agencies can only get inputs, they cannot certify. The state police, which has to file the charge sheet, has to investigate and get evidence before filing the charge sheet, he said.

Chidambaram also expressed disappointment over Pillai distancing himself from the affidavit issue despite being “equally responsible”.

Ishrat, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an encounter with Gujarat Police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.

The city crime branch had then said those killed in the encounters were LeT terrorists and had landed in Gujarat to kill the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

PTI