Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court today in its order suspended the life-term sentence of former Lok Sabha member from Junagadh, Dinu Bogha Solanki in Amit Jethwa murder case. The High Court ordered bail to Solanki who is in Sabarmati jail at present. Solanki will be released on bond of Rs. 1 lakh. He will require to surrender his passport. A two-judge bench headed by Justice Paresh Upadhyay stated that the CBI court conviction prima facie was erroneous and based on assumptions and presumptions and could not sustain. The prime witness in this case was heading a rival cooperative and belonged to rival political party, the High Court observed.

The High Court order stated that – It is not dispute that the entire case rests on circumstantial evidence …….  the present applicant(Dinu Solanki) was member of parliament – Lok Sabha at the relevant time, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party. The incident took place on 20th July 2010. In the investigation carried out by the police and later the investigation by CID Crime and SIT, there was no mention of the applicant(Dinu Solanki). It is in the year 2013, the investigation was transferred to CBI and in those circumstances, one person named Rama Haja, a Prime Witness number 26 popped up who was projected as an employee of the present applicant (Dinu Solanki) who claimed in the year 2013, that in the year 2010, few months before the incident, he had overheard the present applicant telling others that something needs to be done about that man, that is the deceased(Amit Jethwa). The theory of hatching conspiracy is attributed to the present applicant(Dinu Solanki) on this basis. It is also matter of record that the present applicant (Dinu Solanki) was managing one fisheries cooperative society namely Motisagar. The same witness (Rama Haja) was chairman of another competing fisheries cooperative society namely Bhagyashree during 2006 to 2013. In the cross examination, even on the face to documents to that effect, Rama Haja deposed that he was not aware whether he himself was chairman of that society or not. That is the credibility of said witness and on the basis of say of the said witness, who was closely associated with rival political party, a sitting member of parliament of BJP was named as prime accused in year 2013, by CBI alleging that he had hatched conspiracy to murder a person which had happened in the year 2010.

The High Court also observed that a prime witness number 48 had stated that ‘in the fight between two political parties, BJP and Congress, the common man like me’, that is that witness suffers. DeshGujarat