Gujarat High Court on Friday asked the chairman of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) R R Verma to probe the retraction of statements by the witnesses in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case. Insisting on speeding up of investigation into the case, a bench comprising Justice Jayant Patel and Justice Abhilasha Kumari directed Verma to submit a progress report on September 8.
The court earlier took serious note of the contention that the witnesses were being influenced and made to retract their statements and even one of the members of the SIT had been involved. To rule out any such possibility, the bench directed that in case the chairman found any member of SIT involved in influencing a witness or retraction of statements, he could submit a report in a sealed cover to the court.
However, if any other person was found to be involved other than the members, the chairman would have the right to arrest him and have his custodial interrogation, the bench directed. Giving him the liberty in the mode and manner of the investigation, the court observed that only SIT chairman would decide whether he wants to carry out the investigation on his own or through an appropriate officer. Though remaining two members of the team will have the right to express their opinion, it would be for the chairman to ultimately decide on any issue, the court observed.
Earlier, bringing the role of SIT members under direct scrutiny, the petitioner’s counsel Mukul Sinha said “Not only the external forces but the internal forces were involved in getting the witnesses to retract their statements.”
He pointed out that in an affidavit, filed before the court in January, SIT member Satish Verma had cast aspersions on another team Mohan Jha while alleging that he was involved in getting the statements retracted. The counsel contended that though seven months have elapsed, no action has been taken.
During the hearing, SIT chairman R R Verma also mentioned before the court that retraction of statements by three witnesses had come to his notice. “I am looking into the aspect as to why the witnesses are giving different statements,” mentioned Verma in the open court.
Earlier, the bench was also apprised of the reports submitted by previous SIT chairmen, Karnail Singh and Dr Satyapal Singh, who mentioned that the witnesses were being influenced to retract their statements.
During the hearing, amicus curiae Yogesh Lakhani, while raising concern over the retraction of the statements, contended that the investigation of the entire case was going at a slow pace. The case will now come up for hearing on September 9.
The probe in the case is being supervised directly by Gujarat High Court which had constituted the SIT last year to investigate genuineness of the encounter after petitions filed by Ishrat’s mother Shamima Kausar and Gopinath Pillai,father of another victim of the encounter — Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai.
The court even directed the central government to file an original affidavit till the next hearing. Ishrat Jahan, 19, a Mumbai-based college girl, was killed in an encounter, along with Javed Ghulam Sheikh alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai, Amjad Ali alias Rajkumar Akbar Ali Rana and Jisan Johar Abdul Gani, carried out by crime branch officials near Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.
Source: Mirror
