CBI court raps Amit Shah for non-appearance in fake encounter case // Amit Shah all set to become BJP chief

A CBI court on Friday reprimanded the counsel of former Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Amit Shah for seeking yet another exemption for his client without assigning any reason for the BJP leader’s non-appearance in connection with the 2006 Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case. “Every time you are giving an exemption application without assigning any reason,” said special CBI judge J T Utpat after CBI counsel B P Raju opposed Shah’s exemption application. However the court allowed his exemption application and fixed the next date of hearing on July 4.
Earlier, on June 6, the court had allowed the exemption plea of Shah and postponed the hearing till today. Shah in his exemption application on Friday said he could not attend the court hearing as he was in Delhi. “Shah is engaged in political work in New Delhi and therefore not about to come to court,” read his application filed by his lawyer Robin Mogera.
The court is also likely to pass an order on the discharge application filed by Shah on June 25. The court had on May 9 issued summons to Shah and other accused in the case, which was transferred from Gujarat to Mumbai this year. The CBI had chargesheeted Shah and 18 others, including several police officers, in the case in September 2013.
According to CBI, gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh, claimed to have links to Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba, and his wife Kauser Bi were abducted by Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorism Squad when they were on way from Hyderabad to Sangli in Maharashtra and killed in an alleged fake encounter near Gandhinagar in November 2005. Tulsiram Prajapati, an eye-witness to the encounter, was killed by police at Chapri village in Banaskantha district of Gujarat in December 2006. Shah, who was then Minister of State for Home was allegedly involved in the conspiracy behind both the incidents. 
BJP general secretary Amit Shah is set to take over as the next president of the Bharatiya Janata Party from home minister Rajnath Singh, with party and RSS leaders deliberating on the timing of the formal decision. “The odds are stacked in his favour. Most of the senior leaders are in his favour,” a BJP leader told HT. BJP general secretary JP Nadda was also a strong contender for the post but lost out since the BJP is looking to utilise Shah’s organisational skills in the upcoming assembly elections. Shah headed the BJP election campaign in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha polls. The party won 71 of the state’s 80 seats. The party is now looking for an appropriate time for the announcement so that it doesn’t overshadow the Narendra Modi government’s first Budget, likely in the second week of July. minister Rajnath Singh, with party and RSS leaders deliberating on the timing of the formal decision. 
See also:
Team Modi and free speech: Republishing "9 Myth Busters Of Gujarat 2002 Riots" by Shehzad Poonawalla On April 29, Shehzad Poonawalla wrote a piece for the DNA called Between Myths and Truths. It was about 9 myths being propagated Narendra Modi with regard to 2002. The article was posted at 1 pm and was popular on social media. DNA itself tweeted about the article three times. In less than 24 hours, without notice, the article was pulled down. Here's speculation as to why it was withdrawn. 

Popular posts from this blog

Third degree torture used on Maruti workers: Rights body

Haruki Murakami: On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning

The Almond Trees by Albert Camus (1940)

Satyagraha - An answer to modern nihilism

Rudyard Kipling: critical essay by George Orwell (1942)

Three Versions of Judas: Jorge Luis Borges

Goodbye Sadiq al-Azm, lone Syrian Marxist against the Assad regime