A special CBI court here on Thursday granted bail to suspended IPS officer P.P. Pandey in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan encounter case.
Mr. Pandey's lawyer Nirupam Nanavati has contended that there was insufficient evidence to consider him as part of any conspiracy.
“Prima facie there is no case against him. He was present at the farm where all the persons (Ishrat and her companion Javed) were present. He was present for the meeting at IPS officer DG Vanzara's chamber. Beyond that there is no case against him. The court seems to have considered our contention," Mr. Nanavati told The Hindu .
Mr. Pandey's bail conditions involve a personal bond of Rs. 1 lakh and and two sureties of Rs. 50,000 each. He is not allowed to go out of India and is required to surrender his passport and mark his presence at the CBI court every week, Mr. Nanavati said.
Mr. Pandey was the Joint Commissioner of Police when 19-year-old college girl Ishrat Jahan, Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Sheikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were allegedly killed by the Ahmedabad police on June 15, 2004.
After a year of incarceration, Mr. Pandey is likely to walk out of the Sabarmati jail later in the day on completions of bail formalities.
