Awaiting govt sanction to prosecute Vanzara, Amin: CBI on Ishrat Jahan case

The CBI told a special court Monday that it is waiting for Gujarat government's sanction to prosecute retired police officers accused in the Ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter case.

The court of special CBI judge J K Pandya posted the matter for hearing on February 16 after the CBI said it is awaiting a reply from the state government on sanction to prosecute retired police officials D G Vanzara and N K Amin under section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The court had earlier rejected discharge applications of the two retired police officers, who were named as accused by the CBI in the 2004 alleged fake encounter of Ishrat and three others.

While rejecting their discharge applications in August last year, the court had sought status from the CBI on whether sanction was sought from the state government to prosecute them so that it could proceed further with the framing of charges against the two former police officials.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had, at the time, told the court that permission was sought from the state government to prosecute the retired police officials.

Vanzara is a former deputy inspector general of police, while Amin retired as superintendent of police.

Jahan, a 19-year-old woman from Mumbra near Mumbai, Javed Shaikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjadali Akbarali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an alleged fake encounter by police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.

The Gujarat police had then claimed that the four had links with terrorists and had plotted to kill then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

The CBI, which probed the killing on the high court's order, had claimed it was a staged encounter.