Ishrat missing papers probe report likely to be made public

A file photo of Ishrat Jahan from a family album.

The report of the one-man probe panel investigating the missing files related to Ishrat Jahan case is likely to be made public in the wake of a controversy over “tutoring” of a key witness.

A senior official said the Home Ministry is actively deliberating on the possibility of uploading the 52-page report on its website on Monday.

The move came after a newspaper report yesterday suggested that the panel head, Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry B. K. Prasad, “tutored” a key witness, setting off a fresh storm with Congress pushing for suo motu action by Supreme Court, accusing the Modi government of creating a “fake controversy“.

The inquiry panel has concluded that the papers were “removed knowingly or unknowingly or misplaced” in September, 2009, a period when Congress leader P. Chidambaram was the Home Minister.

Only one paper out of the five documents related to the controversial alleged Ishrat fake encounter case that went missing from the Home Ministry was found, said the inquiry report submitted on Wednesday.

“It is evident that the documents were removed knowingly or unknowingly or misplaced,” the inquiry committee has concluded.

The inquiry panel, however, made no reference to Mr. Chidambaram or anyone in the then UPA government.

Based on the statements of 11 serving and retired officers, including the then Home Secretary G. K. Pillai, the report said the documents went missing between September 18-28, 2009.