Rahul rakes up Sohrab issue

Cong chief claims ‘ fake encounter’ case has claimed another judge

New Delhi, Feb. 27: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday raked up the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case saying it has claimed yet another judge, after the pleas in the matter were assigned to a new single- judge bench of the Bombay high court.

He also cited media reports that the judge hearing the case has been replaced, and tagged on Twitter the report entitled “Sohrabuddin Sheikh case: Fresh questions as judge who lifted media gag and slammed CBI is replaced”. He also referred to the issue of death of CBI judge B. G. Loya, who was earlier hearing the case and used the hashtag “# HowDidLoyaDie?” with his tweet.

“The Sohrabuddin case claims yet another Judge. Justice Revati Dere, who challenged the CBI, has been removed. Judge J. T. Utpat, asked Amit Shah to appear, and was removed.

“Judge Loya asked tough questions. He died. # HowDidLoyaDie?” Mr Gandhi said on Twitter.

A batch of petitions challenging the discharge of some senior IPS officers in the alleged fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin Shaikh were assigned to a new single- judge bench of the Bombay high court, three weeks after Justice Dere started day- to- day hearing in the matter.

A notice published on the high court website on Tuesday evening said that Justice Revati MohiteDere, who was dealing with the petitions, will no longer hear criminal revision applications. Apart from Justice Mohite- Dere, the assignment of cases of some other judges has also been changed.

Sohrabuddin Sheikh, a gangster with alleged terror links, and his wife Kausar Bi were killed in a suspected fake encounter by the Gujarat police in November 2005. Shaikh’s aide Tulsiram Prajapati was killed in another alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat and Rajasthan police in December 2006.

BJP president Amit Shah, who was the home minister of Gujarat at the time of the alleged encounter, was among 15 persons who were discharged by the CBI court in Mumbai between August 2016 and September 2017.

Sohrabuddin Sheikh case: Fresh questions as judge who lifted media gag and slammed CBI is replaced — Rahul Gandhi Congress president