Centre planning SLP challenging Guj HC order on judicial probe

The Centre on Thursday said it was contemplating filing a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court order staying the magisterial probe which held that the encounter in which Ishrat Jahan was killed was fake.

The Centre today said it was contemplating filing a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court order staying the magisterial probe which held that the encounter in which Ishrat Jahan was killed was fake.

HT Image

"We are thinking of filing SLP in the Supreme Court on all aspects of the (Ishrat) case", Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said adding the petition would cover all issues relating to the encounter, including the stay granted by the Gujarat High Court on the judicial probe.

The Minister, however, said a final decision on the issue is yet to be taken.

Moily said the magisterial probe ordered in 2004 must be taken to its logical conclusion and it should not be obstructed.

He said "many skeletons" can tumble out of the cupboards of Gujarat after the Ishrat case and the Centre was concerned about that.

The Gujarat HC had yesterday stayed Metropolitan Magistrate S P Tamang's report, which had said the police encounter killing Ishrat Jahan and three others was fake, and asked authorities of the High Court to look into the action of the Magistrate and take necessary action.