Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter: Bombay HC says it cannot be 'affected' by trial court witnesses turning hostile

Mumbai: Referring to the increasing number of prosecution witnesses turning hostile before the trial court in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh alleged fake encounter case, the High Court of Bombay on Wednesday said it cannot be “affected” by developments in the trial court. Justice AM Badar started the hearing afresh on the pleas filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Sohrabuddin’s brother Rubabuddin Sheikh, challenging the discharge granted to a few Indian Police Service (IPS) officials and a constable who were accused in the case. The judge said he had to go by what the CBI presented as evidence in its chargesheet. [caption id=“attachment_786053” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Sohrabuddin Sheikh. Image Courtesy: News18[/caption] The observation came when Sheikh’s lawyer, Gautam Tiwari, began to read out a statement given by the prime prosecution witness, Nathuba Jadeja. Jadeja, a driver with the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad in 2005, had said in his statement before a magistrate in 2007 that he had witnessed the abduction of Sohrabuddin, his wife Kausar Bi and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati by the accused police officials. According to the CBI, Sohrabuddin was killed in a fake encounter in November 2005 and his wife was killed later, while Prajapati was killed in another fake encounter in December 2006. In December last year, Jadeja retracted his statement while deposing before the trial court in Mumbai. He had claimed that the CBI had forced him to make the statement, and he was subsequently declared hostile. Senior lawyer Raja Thakare, representing some of the discharged police officials, pointed out that Jadeja had turned hostile, so his earlier statement should not carry weight. Justice Badar had refused to accept the argument. “We have read in the newspaper that witnesses are turning hostile, so the moment you raised an objection I understood that he (Jadeja) too must have turned hostile. That doesn’t matter at the revisional stage, since this court can’t be affected by what is going on in the trial court right now. I have to go by what has been presented in the chargesheet,” the judge said. “It is unfortunate, but the longer a trial takes, the greater the chances are of witnesses turning hostile. The accused then say they must be discharged. Apprehending such a situation, I had refused to stay the trial in the case in November last year,” he said, adding that the defence will get a chance to make this argument at a later stage in the hearing. Justice Badar on Wednesday also rejected the discharge pleas filed by two sub-inspectors of the Rajasthan Police. Sub-inspectors Himanshu Singh Rajawat and Shyam Charan Singh had filed a revision plea against the trial court’s order of July 2017 rejecting their discharge pleas. The judge noted that the charges against the duo as well as the other accused have been framed, and the trial court has already examined 125 witnesses. Hence, this was not the stage to seek discharge, but it was now for the trial court to decide whether the accused should be convicted or not, he said. Three petitions filed by Rubabuddin Sheikh against the discharge of IPS officers DG Vanzara, Dinesh MN and Rajkumar Pandian, and two petitions filed by the CBI against the discharge of IPS officer NK Amin and constable Dalpat Singh Rathod were left partly heard when the assignment of the earlier judge, who was hearing them, was changed in February. Sohrabuddin Sheikh, a suspected gangster, and his wife Kausar Bi were allegedly abducted and killed by a team of Gujarat and Rajasthan Police in November 2005. Prajapati was allegedly killed by some Rajasthan Police officers a year later. The CBI filed a chargesheet against 38 persons for the alleged fake encounters. The trial court discharged 14 people, including Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah, from the case.