Tulsiram Prajapati Case: Amit Shah Likely to appear before Mumbai court

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's close aide Amit Shah is likely to appear before a CBI court in Mumbai on Monday in connection with the 2006 Tulsiram Prajapati 'fake' encounter case.

Shah was exempted from appearing before the court from the last hearing of the case on June 6. He has also filed a plea to be discharged from the case; a decision on which is expected today, media report said.

The CBI filed a charge-sheet in the case in September last year, and had named the former Gujarat home minister and 18 others, including several police officers.

Shah was booked for criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence and offences under the Arms Act.

Tulsiram Prajapati was a key witness in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh 'fake' encounter case.

On the first day of hearing on May 9, the CBI judge had asked Shah to be present in court on May 23. On May 23, but the hearing was deferred to June 6, as the designated CBI judge was on leave. The regular hearings in the case will commence from June 20.

Sohrabuddin, his wife Kauser Bi and Tulsiram were traveling on a bus from Andhra Pradesh in 2005 when they were allegedly abducted by the Gujarat police. Sohrabuddin and his wife were killed a few days later.

Tulsiram Prajapati, the sole witness to their abduction, was shot dead a year later. The police then claimed that he was trying to escape from their custody.

The CBI had said both Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Prajapati killings were inter-connected and part of the same transaction. And for that reason the agency has argued that the trials for the two cases have to take place together.