Guj court grants bail to ex-BJP MP in RTI activist murder case

A special court today granted bail to former BJP MP Dinu Bogha Solanki, an accused in the 2010 murder of RTI activist Amit Jethwa, on condition that he will stay in Diu town of the Union Territory till the court completes the hearing in the case.
Special CBI judge K M Dave allowed the bail plea on the ground that the eight key eyewitnesses in the murder case have been examined. On October 30, the Supreme Court had cancelled his bail until the examination of eight key witnesses.
Eighteen more witnesses are expected to be examined in the case.
Solanki had surrendered before the police around a month ago. He is currently lodged in Sabarmati Central Jail.

The high court had ordered retrial in the matter, which was challenged by Solanki in the apex court.
Solanki is the prime accused in the murder case of Jethwa, who was shot dead in broad daylight outside the Gujarat High Court in July 2010.

The Supreme Court had in February 2014 granted bail to him considering that the probe agency had submitted a supplementary charge sheet and the trial was likely to take a long time.
The CBI had named in its charge sheet Solanki, who represented Junagadh constituency in Lok Sabha, in the case along with six others, including his nephew Shiva Solanki and sharp-shooter Sailesh Pandya.

Jethwa had filed numerous RTI applications and a PIL in the high court against illegal mining in and around Gir forest sanctuary. The case was transferred to the CBI in 2012 by the Gujarat High Court after his father alleged inaction by the state police.