Sohrabuddin case has claimed yet another judge, says Rahul

New Delhi, February 27

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday raked up the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case saying it had claimed yet another judge, after the pleas in the matter were assigned to a new single-judge bench of the Bombay High Court.

He also cited media reports that the judge hearing the case had been replaced, and tagged on Twitter the report entitled ‘Sohrabuddin Sheikh case: Fresh questions as judge who lifted media gag and slammed CBI is replaced’.

He also referred to the issue of death of CBI judge BG Loya, who was earlier hearing the case and used the hashtag ‘#HowDidLoyaDie?’ with his tweet.

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“The Sohrabuddin case claims yet another Judge. Justice Revati Dere, who challenged the CBI, has been removed. Judge JT Utpat asked Amit Shah to appear, and was removed.

“Judge Loya asked tough questions. He died. #HowDidLoyaDie?” Gandhi said on Twitter.

A batch of petitions challenging the discharge of some senior IPS officers in the alleged fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin Shaikh were assigned to a new single-judge bench of the Bombay High Court, three weeks after Justice Dere started day-to-day hearing in the matter.

A notice published on the high court website said Justice Revati Mohite-Dere, who was dealing with the petitions, would no longer hear criminal revision applications. Apart from Justice Mohite-Dere, the assignment of cases of some other judges has also been changed.

Sohrabuddin Shaikh, a gangster with alleged terror links, and his wife Kausar Bi were killed in a suspected fake encounter by Gujarat Police in November 2005.

Shaikh’s aide Tulsiram Prajapati was killed in another alleged fake encounter by Gujarat and Rajasthan Police in December 2006.

BJP president Amit Shah, who was the home minister of Gujarat at the time of the alleged encounter, was among the 15 people who were discharged by the CBI court in Mumbai between August 2016 and September 2017. PTI