The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to grant interim protection to senior IPS officer P.P. Pandey from being arrested by the CBI in the ‘Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.’ He had sought anticipatory bail in the case.
A Bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Ms. Ranjana Desai, while declining to take up the matter on Thursday itself, told senior counsel Jaspal Singh, appearing for Mr. Pandey, that his appeal would be listed for hearing on August 12.
When counsel sought interim protection till then, stating that the Gujarat High Court passed orders only on the evening of Wednesday, the Bench said it would not be possible to grant relief without going through the appeal, which was directed against the High Court order, rejecting his anticipatory bail plea.
On Wednesday, the High Court declined to give further protection to Mr. Pandey from arrest by the CBI. The trial court had also rejected his anticipatory bail plea on the ground that probe in the case is pending and is at a crucial juncture. On Wednesday, the trial court had also rejected his plea for exemption from personal appearance and issued a non-bailable warrant against him after he failed to appear before it.
