Citing lack of evidence, a special CBI court on Wednesday 21 February, discharged former Gujarat DGP PP Pandey in the 2004 alleged fake encounter case of Ishrat Jahan and three others.
I feel very happy as I have been vindicated. The court has found the truth. Without committing any crime, I was given so much punishment by the system. Ultimately justice has been delivered and I salute the judiciary.PP Pandey to PTI
The court also held that permission to prosecute Pandey, who was a government servant, was not taken by the investigating officer from the state before filing of the charge sheet against him, though it was required under section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Pandey was heading the state crime branch when Ishrat, a 19-year-old girl based in Mumbra near Mumbai, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar, were killed in an alleged encounter with the police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on 15 June 2004.
The Gujarat police had claimed that Ishrat and the others had links with Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and had plotted to kill then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The CBI, which investigated the case, had accused Pandey, who then headed the Ahmedabad crime branch, of being involved in the alleged fake encounter.
In the first week of February this year, a special CBI court concluded the hearing on a discharge application filed by Pandey, who had contended that the statements of two witnesses against him were contradictory and that none of the other 105 witnesses examined by the court had named him.
‘We Will Challenge Pandey’s Discharge’
The verdict of the CBI court goes against the previous orders of the Supreme Court and High Court that held that the encounter was fake. We will challenge Pandey’s discharge in the high court. Witnesses’ statements before a magistrate are the most important evidence, and witnesses told the magisterial court that Pandey was present in the meeting where the (encounter) conspiracy was hatched.Shamsad Pathan, Counsel for Ishrat Jahan and Javed Sheikh, to PTI
Ishrat Jahan's mother Shamima Kauser, and Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai's father, Gopinath Pillai, were made respondents by the court in the matter, on their request. Both opposed Pandey's application, saying if he was discharged, it would obstruct the investigation.
Pandey was taken back into service in February 2015, after being released on bail and was appointed the Director of the state's Anti Corruption Bureau. On 16 April last year, Pandey was appointed the in-charge DGP of Gujarat. He resigned later that month after his appointment was challenged in the Supreme Court.
Expressing her disappointment over the discharge of PP Pandey, advocate Vrinda Grover said that “the pattern of impunity begins with the discharge of the most senior accused.”
(With inputs from PTI)
(This story has been updated to reflect the reactions to the court order)
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