Sohrabuddin case: Court says prosecution failed to prove politician-cops nexus
Mumbai, Dec 31: Though the prosecution "tried", it failed to prove any "politician-police" nexus in the alleged fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati, a special CBI court had said while acquitting all the 22 accused on December 21.
Special CBI Judge S J Sharma had acquitted all the accused due to insufficient evidence while expressing sorrow over the loss of three lives.
"I have no hesitation to conclude that the evidence which has been laid and adduced and discussed and appreciated vividly, though the prosecution has tried, it failed to prove any politician-police nexus," he said.
The remarks were part of the 358-page judgement. Copy of the full judgement was only made available on Monday.
The court stated that the CBI probed the alleged fake encounter killings with a 'pre-conceived and premeditated' theory to implicate political leaders.
Of the 22 accused who were acquitted, 21 were junior level police officials from Gujarat and Rajasthan police.
The court has noted in its judgement that it was incumbent on part of the prosecution to procure sanction from appropriate authority to prosecute the 21 accused as they were all government servants.
"The 21 accused were certainly acting in discharge of their official duties. The 21 accused were doubtlessly public servants when the alleged offence is alleged to have been committed," the judgement said.
"In such circumstances, it was necessary for the investigation agency to obtain sanction of competent authority before filing charge sheet. In absence of the sanction, the accused are entitled for acquittal," the court said.
According to the CBI, the police officials were part of teams which abducted and killed Shaikh, his wife and Prajapati in staged encounters.
The court said there was nothing to show that service weapons of the accused policemen were used in the killings.
The three victims who were returning to Sangli in Maharashtra from Hyderabad in a bus were taken into custody by a police team on the intervening night of November 22-23, 2005. The couple was taken in one vehicle and Prajapati in another.
The CBI had said Shaikh was killed on November 26, 2005, allegedly by a joint team of Gujarat and Rajasthan police, and Kausar Bi three days later.
Prajapati, who was lodged in Udaipur Central Jail, was killed in an encounter on the Gujarat-Rajasthan border on December 27, 2006, the investigation agency had alleged.
The court also noted that the prosecution had failed to prove that Prajapati was killed in a fake and staged encounter.
"No doubt that Tulsiram Prajapati suffered a homicidal death," the court said.
It added that statements of witnesses on Prajapati escaping from the custody of Rajasthan police in December 2006 appeared "cogent and convincing".
The court noted the evidence showed that there was an incident of cross firing between Prajapati and a police team.
The CBI had charged 38 persons, including BJP chief Amit Shah, who was the then Gujarat home minister, Gulabchand Kataria, the then Rajasthan home minister, and senior IPS officers like D G Vanzara and P C Pande in the case.
The prosecution examined 210 witnesses, of which 92 turned hostile.
Shah was arrested in the case in July 2010, but released on bail by the Gujarat High Court in October that year. He was discharged by the CBI court in December 2014.
The December 21 verdict was Judge Sharma's last judgement of his career. He is set to retire on December 31.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
