Ahmedabad, 18 October 2012

According to a PTI report, the Supreme Court stayed further proceedings against former Gujarat Minister of State for Home Amit Shah in the Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case until November 23. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Shah, asked the SC to reject a separate FIR in the Tulsi Prajapati murder case since the case came to light only during CBI probe into the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. Therefore, according to Rohatgi, the chargesheet filed in the Prajapati case by CBI should be treated as a “second supplementary charge-sheet” in the main Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s murder case. In other words, both charge-sheets should be merged and cases be heard together instead of treating the Tulsi Prajapati case as procedurally separate.

The Supreme Court Bench consisting of P Sathasivam and Ranjan Gogoi asked the CBI to file its reply by November 23 to this request by Shah staying all proceedings in the Prajapati case till then.

This order is definitely a huge relief for Shah given that Gujarat is now in election mode for the next two months and Shah would be a key member in Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s bid for a third re-election. And with his arrest in the Prajapati case not being imminent (at least, not until November 23), there is now perhaps a greater justification in giving him a ticket to contest in the upcoming 2012 state assembly election. This is because after the CBI files its reply by November 23, presumably objecting to Shah’s request to merge the cases, the SC might likely to take two to three weeks to determine whether the two cases can be heard together. The elections will be concluded by December 17 and results announced on December 20. Therefore, it is very likely that no major progress would occur in the next two months given today’s development.

If the SC accepts Shah’s request to merge the two cases, it will again provide Shah a huge relief. If the CBI is being used by the ruling Congress-led UPA government to embarrass Narendra Modi – and, therefore, CBI may be timing its progress in the Prajapati case to arrest Shah at an inopportune time – it may not be able to do so any more since the Prajapati case will become a part of the Sohrabuddin trial in Mumbai. It may be useful to remember that CBI’s plea to the SC not to grant Shah bail in the Sohrabuddin case was rejected although, of course, the trial was shifted out of Gujarat. But, unless the cases take an unexpected turn, the CBI will not have much basis to hound Shah. Shah should be a relieved man today.

(Kartikeya is a Partner at Tanna Associates Advocates, Ahmedabad)