RTI Activist's Murder| 'Case Will Be Reminisced As An Antithesis To 'Satyamev Jayate': Gujarat HC Acquits Ex-BJP MP, 6 Others

While doing so, a bench of Justice AS Supehia and Justice Vimal K Vyas sternly observed that the investigation in the case, right from its inception, appeared to be an “eyewash” and that all efforts were made to ensure that the “truth is buried forever.”

The division bench also said that the instant caste would reminisce as an antithesis to 'Satyamev Jayate' and that the trial in the instant case was conducted with a pre-determined notion of conviction. A detailed judgment is awaited.

It may be noted that a special CBI court in Ahmedabad found the accused in the Amit case—Dinu Solanki, his nephew Shiva Solanki, Sanjay Chauhan, Shailesh Pandya, Pachan Desai, Udaji Thakore, and police constable Bahadursinh Vader—guilty under sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and 120B (criminal conspiracy to commit an offence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Jethwa, a lawyer, was shot dead for exposing illegal mining in and around the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary in which Solanki was involved through RTI applications. In 2010, Jethwa had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the illegal mining in and around the Gir sanctuary, the only abode of the Asiatic lion.

Dinu Solanki and Shiva Solanki were made respondents to the PIL, with Jethwa producing several documents showing their alleged involvement in illegal mining. Even as the PIL was being heard, Jethwa was shot dead outside the Gujarat High Court here on July 20, 2010.

Initially, the Ahmedabad police's crime branch probed the case and gave Dinu Solanki a clean chit. Dissatisfied with the investigation, the high court handed the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2013.

The CBI filed a charge sheet against Solanki and six others in November 2013. Charges of murder and criminal conspiracy were framed against them in May 2016. The court examined 196 witnesses during the first trial. As many as 105 of them turned hostile (did not support the CBI case) after being threatened by the accused.

Jethwa's father Bhikhabhai Jethwa then moved the high court seeking a re-trial. The HC had ordered a fresh trial in 2017.

Case Title: Dinubhai Bogabhai Solanki Versus State Of Gujarat & Ors.

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 63

Click Here To Read Judgement