NEW DELHI: Back from his Karnataka campaign, Congress president Rahul Gandhi trained guns on the BJP by questioning the removal of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere from the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
The Bombay High Court recently replaced the judge who had been hearing a set of five petitions challenging the discharge of some senior Gujarat police officers accused in the case. Justice Revati had removed the curb on media reporting of the case and pulled up the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its slackness.
“The Sohrabuddin case claims yet another Judge. Justice Revati Dere, who challenged the CBI, has been removed. Judge J T Utpat asked Amit Shah to appear and was removed. Judge Loya asked tough questions. He died,” Rahul tweeted on Monday.
A few weeks ago, Rahul had pressed for an independent probe in the death of Judge Loya, who was hearing another case related to the Sohrabuddin killing in which Shah, then a Gujarat minister, was an accused.
Over the past few months, the Congress has been expressing concern over the death of Judge Loya. Rahul had led an Opposition delegation to President Ram Nath Kovind. When asked if the sustained effort was aimed at Shah, Rahul had said the petition was a shared expression of concern that several parliamentarians had over the issue.
Soon after becoming the Congress chief, Rahul had backed four SC judges who had questioned Chief Justice Dipak Misra’s style of functioning citing the allocation of Sohrabuddin case to a junior judge. A bench headed by the Chief Justice of Indi is now hearing the case afresh.
Case overview
Justice Mohite-Dere had lifted the gag order on media reportage of the proceedings in the case on January 24
She had pulled up CBI for not presenting the prosecutor’s case with clarity, opposing the discharge of lower-level police
Bombay Lawyers Association wrote to the acting chief justice seeking remedial action after reassignment of the case