CBI moves SC to shift Sohrab trial out of Gujarat

NEW DELHI: The CBI cited rising disharmony and unrest between religious communities and accused with relatives as prosecutors, magistrates and judges to request the Supreme Court on Wednesday to shift the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case trial outside Gujarat.

A bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha accepted senior advocate K T S Tulsi's plea to make the state a party and issued notices to accused including former minister Amit Shah and suspended senior police officers. The court asked all of them to file responses by January 27.

"There is every likelihood of failure of justice on account of intimidating and pressure tactics of the accused," said Tulsi arguing for the CBI, which was entrusted with the probe into the 2005 fake encounter case on January 12 last year after the court found holes in the state police's investigations.