HC pulls up CBI for behaving like a ‘silent spectator’

Noting that several of the witnesses examined by the special court in Mumbai in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case had turned hostile, the Bombay High Court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) what steps it was taking to ensure that he witnesses could testify “fearlessly?”

A single bench presided by Justice Revati Mohite-Dere said that the CBI could not behave like a “silent spectator” and that it was the probe agency’s duty to extend protection to its witnesses to ensure that they faced no fear or coercion while deposing before the special court.

“Is it not the CBI’s responsibility to ensure that its witnesses are protected so that they can depose against the accused fearlessly? Considering that several witnesses have turned hostile before the special CBI court, are you providing any protection to them? Your responsibility does not end simply at filing the chargesheet. It is your duty to protect your witnesses,” Justice Mohite-Dere said.

The observations came while the court was hearing an appeal filed by the CBI challenging the discharge of former Gujarat IPS officer NK Amin—one of the 15 accused who have been discharged from the case by the special CBI court.

The CBI has charged Amin of being part of the conspiracy to kill Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi, and their aide Tulsiram Prajapati. And to prove its case against Amin, the probe agency has primarily relied upon the statement of Nathuba Jadeja, the driver of the private vehicles in which Shaikh and others were allegedly taken by the accused to the encounter spot in 2005.