Ishrat Jahan chargesheet: Why Modi isn't in the clear yet

The CBI’s charge sheet in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case may have stayed away from mentioning the Gujarat political leadership, but this doesn’t mean that Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his former deputy and then home minister Amit Shah are in the clear. As the Gujarat Chief Minister meets with the BJP’s parliamentary board and is likely to unveil the party’s campaign committee today, he will perhaps be mindful of the supplementary charge sheet that is likely to be filed by the CBI in the case, particularly since it will have to do with Rajender Kumar, special director of the Intelligence Bureau . The BJP leader will reportedly be keeping an eye on the supplementary chargesheet that is expected to be filed by the end of the month and could time his political strategy, especially a nationwide tour accordingly, the Hindustan Times reported citing BJP sources. [caption id=“attachment_927711” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Modi is reportedly watching for the supplementary chargesheet in the case. AP[/caption] Modi’s worry over the supplementary charge sheet reportedly stems from the fact that the CBI is continuing to investigate Intelligence Bureau officials who are charged not only with providing weapons but also illegally confining Ishrat Jahan and a companion before killing them. The CBI in its charge sheet yesterday charged eight police officials with kidnapping and murder — key among them were fugitive additional director-general of police Prathvipal Pandey, deputy inspector-general DG Vanzara, and deputy superintendents of police Girish Singhal, Tarun Barot and Narhari Amin. Rajender Kumar’s name  may not have found mention in the first charge sheet but is likely to find mention in supplementary charge sheet to be filed by the CBI. The Times of India reports that Kumar was reportedly known to the Gujarat Chief Minister, and their association stretched back to the 1990’s when Modi was deputed to Himachal Pradesh. The report states that Kumar was transferred to Gujarat thanks to a request placed by Modi to the Home Ministry, while the BJP was in power and LK Advani was Home Minister. The Gujarat Chief Minister’s involvement in the scandal may not have gone beyond conjecture so far, with theories of a ‘white beard’ giving the orders for the killing. But as _Firstpost_'s Praveen Swami pointed out it is impossible to say how robust the charges will prove to be in a court of law.