CBI court rejects discharge pleas of Vanzara, Amin

In a setback to retired IPS officers DG Vanzara and NK Amin, a Special CBI court in Gujarat on Tuesday turned down their discharge pleas in the 2004 fake encounters of Mumbra girl Ishrat Jahan and three others.

With the CBI court’s ruling, Vanzara and Amin would remain accused in the case and face the trial. The arguments in the discharge applications of both the former cops had concluded on July 18 last. Special CBI judge JK Pandya had reserved the order, which he delivered it on Tuesday and remarked that the role of these two accused was greater than retired in-charge DGP of Gujarat PP Pandey.

On June 15, 2004, 19-year-old Mumbra college girl Ishrat Jahan was killed along with her friend Javed Shaikh and two alleged Pakistani nationals – Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in a fake encounter during a joint operation by a team of Gujarat Police and Intelligence Bureau (IB). According to police Ishrat and her accomplices had come to Gujarat to assesinate the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi.

Taking to reporters afte the CBI court order Amin said tht the order might be of rejection as he and Vanzara had not read it as they were yet to receive a certified copy. “Once we read it, we would know view of the court. The other thing is that Pandey was discharged under Section 197 and principles of law which suggest that if that has happened for one accused, others should be dealt at parity.