Hearing on both the bail pleas of the former Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Amit Shah, and the application of the former Deputy Superintendent of Police, Narendra Amin, to turn approver in the Sohrabuddin-Kausarbi murder case, was, on Thursday adjourned till September 22.
While Mr. Amin's plea along with its reference to judge its constitutional validity is being heard by a division bench of the Gujarat High Court comprising Justices Jayant Patel and H.B. Antani, Mr. Shah's bail application is pending before the special CBI court.
Counsel for the Central Bureau of Investigation, K.T.S. Tulsi, continuing his arguments on the issue of the constitutional validity of Mr. Amin's plea, told the court that the protection given under sections 14 and 20 of the Constitution to an accused against being forced to furnish statements would not be applicable if a person volunteered to make a statement.
He said since the CBI did not force Mr. Amin to give his statement and the jailed police officer had done so voluntarily, seeking pardon if he testified against other accused, it did not attract the articles 14 and 20.
He also reminded the court that the prosecution agency had conditionally accepted Mr. Amin's plea to turn approver because it would not be easy to strengthen the case against other accused without his co-operation.
In the special CBI court, Mr. Shah's counsel, Ram Jethmalani, pleaded the former minister's case for bail claiming that all the charges against him were “fabricated” and the CBI was only “targeting” him. Alleging that the Congress was behind “politicising” the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, Mr. Jethmalani claimed that Mr. Shah was only a scapegoat and the real target of the political game was the Narendra Modi government in the State.
He also recounted that in the investigations earlier carried out by the State police when it booked 13 police officers, Mr. Shah had not figured, whereas in the CBI's charge sheet the former Minister was suddenly named the “kingpin.”
