NEW DELHI: The details of file notings in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case clearly indict former Home Minister P Chidambaram, who not only rejected the findings of Central agencies while censoring the government affidavit but did not even consider inputs given by the Maharashtra and Gujarat governments.
According to sources, in the first affidavit all the intelligence inputs from the Intelligence Bureau, Maharashtra and Gujarat were incorporated but in the second affidavit, Chidambaram negated every report saying that the intelligence inputs on Ishrat Jahan and three others killed in the encounter did not constitute conclusive proof.
The file notings related to the second affidavit suggest that former Home Secretary G K Pillai was privy to the move but the decision was taken by Chidambaram without his consent.
The notings show that Pillai sent the file related to the second affidavit to Chidambaram on September 23, 2009. Subsequently on September 24, 2009 Chidambaram wrote on the file as amended, “Please show the clear copy before it is sent to the court.”
The Home Secretary wrote on the file the same day that “clear copy shown to Home Minister and please take further action to be filed”.
File notings further suggest that the affidavit was subsequently sent to the then Law Secretary and a copy was marked to then Attorney-General G E Vahanvati only for their information and not vetting.
Sources said that since Vahanvati was not in town at the time, he did not have a chance to look at the second affidavit before it was filed by the UPA government.
“In the second affidavit Chidambaram negated every report and alleged links of Ishrat Jahan and three others with Lashkar-e-Toiba was removed. He changed the entire affidavit without taking into account of his own officers and even overlooked inputs given by various agencies,” a source said.
Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs said they would examine all files related to this case as the then Home Minister had given his opinion instead of facts in the affidavit.
“There is no doubt now that he tried to fix political rivals through filing the second affidavit. An affidavit filed by the government in the court should be based on facts but Chidambaram gave his opinion in the affidavit which is shocking.
As per the reports, the Former Home Secretary was only privy to the happenings but it was done without his consent and the under secretary was forced to sign the censored affidavit.
All these aspects will be thoroughly examined,” the source further added.
Jaitley: Affidavit Fraudulent
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the second affidavit filed in the Supreme Court in the Ishrat Jahan case was “fraudulent”. Saying the encounter was “honest”, he asked if the Congress believed it was fake why it then allowed those officers involved to get bail. When pressed further if he wanted a Commission of Inquiry, he said he did not want to say anything more.