The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted the former Gujarat Minister, Amit Shah, time till November 20 for filing his response to the notice asking him why the bail granted to him by the Gujarat High Court in the Sohrabuddin-Kausar Bi murder case should not be cancelled.
The notice was issued on the CBI's appeal against the High Court's ruling.
A Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and R.M. Lodha posted the matter for further hearing on November 29, instead of November 15, and granted Mr. Shah time till November 20. On October 30, the Bench directed Mr. Shah to stay out of Gujarat till November 15, but since the case has now been adjourned to November 29, he will have to stay out of the State till then.
Earlier, senior counsel Uday Lalit, appearing for Mr. Shah, said some more time was required to file the reply because the CBI had brought on record certain documents for the first time. The Bench, which had earlier asked Mr. Shah to file the reply by Wednesday, asked him to file the response by November 20. The CBI's rejoinder must be filed by November 24.
Mr. Shah was arrested by the CBI on July 25. The High Court granted him bail on October 29, and he was released from prison the same night. On the CBI's appeal, a special Bench comprising the same judges (Justices Aftab Alam and R.M. Lodha) issued notice on October 30 and listed the matter for November 15.
The CBI said the investigation had revealed that Mr. Shah, in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy, gave illegal instructions relating to the investigation of the Sohrabuddin-Kausar Bi murder case to G.C. Raiger, the then ADGP, Home Guard, Gujarat. But since Mr. Raiger did not follow the instructions, he was divested of the additional charge of the CID (Crime).
The agency said the investigation had disclosed that the Gujarat police team, headed by D.G. Vanjara and M.N. Dinesh, both accused, interacted with each other for more than a year to trace Sohrabuddin, which it said was further evidence of the conspiracy for the fake encounter. Mohammed Azam, an important witness, was kidnapped on September 21 when Mr. Shah was in judicial custody, the CBI said, and there was enough material to show that some police officers had conspired to destroy crucial evidence.
The CBI said Mr. Shah made a systematic attempt to tamper with evidence, and his bail should be cancelled for a fair trial.
