Author: Abraham Thomas
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: October 31, 2010
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/293468/Amit-Shah-spares-CBI-the-blushes.html
The embarrassment for the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) just got bigger when a Supreme Court Bench, working from
its residence till late on Saturday, refused to cancel the bail granted to
former Gujarat Minister Amit Shah.
Ironically, the man who saved the day for
the CBI was none other than Shah himself. The apex Bench of Justices Aftab
Alam and RM Lodha refused to cancel his bail but sought to know if the proposal
for leaving Gujarat and staying out of the State till November 15 - the next
date of hearing - could come from Shah.
Shah "voluntarily" accepted it,
following which the Bench issued notices to him and the Gujarat Government
and directed him to leave Gujarat by Sunday morning. The CBI had sought a
stay on the order granting him bail, claiming it feared he could influence
witnesses.
Senior advocate KTS Tulsi and CBI counsel
Subramanium Prasad, who rushed to the residence of Justice Aftab Alam around
5 pm, confronted the Bench with evidence to show how Shah's presence in the
State was detrimental to the conduct of a fair trial in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh
encounter case.
With Shah named as one of the prime conspirators,
the CBI cited the statement of Azam Khan, one of the witnesses who turned
hostile. Before the magistrate in a Gujarat court, Khan had trashed his earlier
statement, suggesting it was made under police "influence".
Reluctant to see the reason behind CBI's tearing
hurry to demand Shah's re-arrest, the Bench observed, "We cannot cancel
his bail since he has come out." Pointing to advocates Bina Madhavan
and Bhupender Yadav, present on Shah's behalf, the Bench said, "If the
statement comes from you (Shah) that you can stay outside the State till further
orders…." It was at this point that the counsels stepped out and
took instructions from Shah, who gave an oral consent.
On the voluntary proposal from Shah to leave
the State by Sunday morning and remain outside Gujarat till the next date,
the Bench said, "In view of the statement, there is no need to pass any
orders."
The presence of CBI officials involved in
the case in Delhi since Friday evening conveyed the sense of urgency within
certain quarters of the Government to somehow get the bail order vacated.
Minutes after a single judge of the Gujarat HC turned down CBI's plea to suspend
its order till such time the agency could appeal the decision in the Supreme
Court, the certified copy of the bail order had been flown to Delhi and an
appeal prepared.
How it happened?
Late on Friday, the CBI lawyers approached
the residence of Deputy Registrar Avijit Dasgupta, the officer in-charge for
listing emergency matters, since the court had closed for vacation. He gave
time on Saturday morning, when the CBI sleuths - accompanied by their lawyers
- reached his residence and got permission to file the matter.
By noon on Saturday, defects in the petition
were cleared and the petition was ready for hearing. The next hurdle for the
SC Registry was to locate which judge was available since vacations gave sufficient
reason for judges to be away in their home States.
After many hits and misses, the Registry zeroed
in on Justices Aftab Alam and RM Lodha. Apart from the fact that the hearing
was conducted at the judge's residence, it was an in-house proceeding, due
to which the media was kept out of the hearing.
