Sohrabuddin Case: Bombay HC Dismisses PIL Seeking Direction To CBI To Challenge BJP President Amit Shah’s Discharge

The Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed the PIL filed by Bombay Lawyer’s Association seeking a writ of mandamus to be issued directing the CBI to challenge BJP president Amit Shah’s discharge in the alleged fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin Shaikh.

A division bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice BH Dangre said the petitioners had no locus in the case and since they had taken such a long time after the order of discharge was passed, to file the petition, the court was not inclined to grant any relief.

Speaking to Livelaw, BLA president Ahmad Abdi confirmed that he will be moving the Supreme Court and challenge the order of dismissal through a special leave petition.

The PIL was filed in January this year and Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave appeared on behalf of BLA. He argued that the CBI had faltered on its part by not challenging the discharge. He said-

“It is our premier investigating agency and is answerable to none but its own conscience. Not challenging the discharge of one of the main accused in this case is an omission on their part.”

Whereas, CBI counsel ASG Anil Singh had argued that the petition was nothing but a publicity stunt pointing to the Supreme Court’s observations against BLA while dismissing their plea seeking an enquiry in Judge BH Loya’s death.

Dave had countered this and submitted-

“Extraordinary facts require extraordinary actions. Publicity is inevitable in such a case, 16 accused out of 38 have been acquitted. Out of the discharged accused, some of the most powerful in country are there. The same CBI had made statement before the trial court that he (Amit Shah) is the main accused in this case and once the government changed, CBI’s stand also did. In order to preserve the integrity of the trial, it was transferred from Gujarat to Mumbai. If 16 accused are discharged, what is the sanctity of the trial? This is miscarriage of justice.”

The court dismissed the PIL a month after reserving the order on October 3, 2018.