CBI court grants BJP chief Amit Shah exemption from personal appearance

MUMBAI: A special CBI court today granted exemption to BJP President Amit Shah from personal appearance in two alleged fake encounter cases.

Despite CBI's opposition, the court granted exemption to Shah, who did not appear in the court. He had stated in his application that he was President of a national party and was busy meeting party leaders from different states as assembly elections are scheduled later in the year.

The cases pertain to two alleged fake encounters in which gangster Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausar Bi were killed near Gandhinagar in November 2005. Tulsiram Prajapati, said to be an eyewitness to the alleged encounter, was killed by police in Banaskantha district in Gujarat a year later.

CBI has chargesheeted Shah, a former Minister of State for Home in Gujarat, and 37 others, including several police officers, in the two cases.

The case has been posted for hearing on Aug 14.