Ishrat case: CBI to reply on N K Amin's plea for quashing charges

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today sought CBI's response on a plea of suspended Gujarat cadre IPS officer N K Amin, arrested in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, seeking quashing of charges against him.

A bench of justices B S Chauhan and S A Bobde issued notice to the agency seeking its reply within four weeks.

The CBI, on July 3, had filed a charge sheet against seven police officers including Amin, accusing them of murder and criminal conspiracy regarding the encounter killing of 19-year-old Ishrat, Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Zeeshan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in 2004.

Amin, who is also an accused in the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in a fake encounter, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in that case, and CBI has challenged it in the apex court.

While Amin was on bail, CBI had arrested him in connection with the Ishrat case on April 4.

The arrested police officer has applied for bail before the Gujarat High Court which had sought response from the CBI.

CBI in its charge sheet has said the encounter was fake and carried out jointly by Gujarat Police and IB.

Suspended IPS officer G L Singhal, retired DSP J G Parmar, Mehsana Deputy SP Tarun Barot and commando Anaju Chaudhary were granted default bail by the Special CBI court here after the probe agency failed to file the charge sheet in the case within the stipulated period of 90 days of their arrest.

Amin is accused of abducting Ishrat and Sheikh from Vasad two days prior to the killing and firing the shots during the "so-called encounter".