In a big relief to the BJP party chief, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to permit social activist Harsh Mander to challenge Amit Shah's discharge in the Sohrabuddin encounter case. A bench of Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice Ashok Bhushan rejected the plea by Mander, who had challenged the Bombay High Court order rejecting his plea against the discharge of Amit Shah on the grounds of the former bureaucrat's locus standi to do so. In 2014, Mr Shah was found innocent of charges that he ordered the "fake encounter" that led to Sheikh being shot dead in 2005 by the police which reported to him as Home Minister of Gujarat.
A court in Mumbai ruled that there was no evidence against Mr Shah and that he had been included in the inquiry of Sheikh's death for political reasons. Former bureaucrat Harsh Mander had asked the Supreme Court to order that the 51-year-old politician's role be examined again. Judges today said that Mr Mander is "not even remotely connected with the case." They also stressed "Once he (Mr Shah) has been discharged, can he be continuously prosecuted?".
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
