Petition against Amit Shah’s discharge in Sohrabuddin case rejected by Supreme Court

In a relief for Amit Shah, the Supreme Court today rejected a petition filed by activist and former bureaucrat Harsh Mander challenging the discharge of the BJP president in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

A bench of Justice SA Bobde and Justice Ashok Bhushan rejected the plea by Mander, who had challenged the Bombay High Court order rejecting his plea against Shah’s discharge. The apex court said Mander had no locus standi to challenge the discharge.

“Where a person genuinely aggrieved moves the court, it takes a different colour, and another person who is not even remotely connected (moves the court), it takes a different dimension,” the court said.

The plea filed by Mander had sought the quashing of a Mumbai court’s order on December 30, 2014 giving clean chit to Shah in the 2004 killing.

Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kauserbi and accomplice Tulsiram Prajapati were killed in separate encounters in Gujarat in 2005 and 2006.

Shah’s name had figured in the investigations in all three alleged extrajudicial killings. He also went to jail in the Sohrabuddin case and resigned from his post.

The Gujarat Police had alleged that the trio had plans to assassinate the then state Chief Minister Narendra Modi to avenge the 2002 riots.