Scared of CBI? SC to Nithari lawyer

The Supreme Court issued a notice to the CBI on a petition filed by a woman seeking to withdraw her contempt petition against several CBI and Uttar Pradesh police officials, reports Satya Prakash.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the CBI on a petition filed by a woman seeking to withdraw her contempt petition against several CBI and Uttar Pradesh police officials.

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The notice was issued on the withdrawal plea of Bandana Sarkar, whose daughter Pinki was one of the victims of the Nithari killings. Husband Jatin, a key witness, was later found dead under mysterious circumstances.

Justice Tarun Chaterjee, who issued the notice to the CBI, wondered if the petitioner and her lawyer were scared of the probe agency.

Her counsel B.P. Singh Dhakray had accused the CBI of threatening him for hinting at a possible collusion between the agency and prime accused Moninder Singh Pandher. Dhakray had requested the court initiate contempt proceedings against then CBI chief Vijay Shanker for allegedly trying to coerce him to withdraw from the case. He had also sought contempt action against five other CBI and Uttar Pradesh police. He alleged the CBI had reopened an old case of rioting and attempt to murder against him and his son.

The court had earlier issued notices to the CBI and other officials on a petition by Bandana alleging that CBI officials had killed her husband to protect Pandher.

Jatin was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Bengal’s Murshidabad district on September 1, 2007, about nine days before his deposition before a special CBI court in Noida.