Centre seeks contempt move against Shah

The Centre on Wednesday sought contempt proceedings against former Gujarat home minister Amit Shah and his lawyer Ram Jethmalani for casting aspersions on a retired Supreme Court judge who had ordered a CBI probe into the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

The Centre on Wednesday sought contempt proceedings against former Gujarat home minister Amit Shah and his lawyer Ram Jethmalani for casting aspersions on a retired Supreme Court judge who had ordered a CBI probe into the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

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Additional solicitor general Indira Jaisingh slammed Jethmalani for questioning the impartiality of the judge and told the SC the arguments were not only "fanciful" but contemptuous.

She countered the Gujarat government's claim that CBI officers should face contempt of court for levelling baseless allegations against the state's magistrates and prosecutors.

In its transfer petition before the SC, CBI had alleged that fair trial in the Sohrabbudin Sheikh fake encounter case was not possible as Shah's relatives were magistrates and prosecutors in the state's lower judiciary.

Arguing before a SC bench, Jaisingh said: "The allegation of conspiracy among the judge (Justice Tarun Chatterjee, now retired), the Centre and the CBI made by Shah amounts to contempt of court. The alleged interest of the judge... is not only fanciful but the averments to that effect are nothing short of contempt of this court."