HC grants bail to two cops in Sadiq Jamal fake encounter case

The Gujarat High Court granted regular bail to two police officials in the 2003 Sadiq Jamal fake encounter killing case here today.
High Court Judge Z K Saiyed granted bail to J G Parmar and Irshad Ali Saiyad both of whom retired as Deputy Superintendents of Police (DYSP).
It is alleged that both of them shot Sadiq Jamal in an encounter in 2003 when they were serving as police inspectors with the city crime branch.
In their bail plea filed a month ago, Parmar and Saiyad had sought bail on the ground of parity with other accused who were granted the relief as well as on medical grounds, citing various age-related ailments.

The investigating agency CBI had opposed their bail plea saying that both of them had shot Sadiq due to which they must not be given bail.
Both of them were arrested by CBI in 2012 for their alleged involvement in Sadiq's fake encounter. In 2013, CBI chargesheeted eight policemen for their alleged involvement in the fake encounter.

Out of these eight policemen, five have been granted bail by the court before Parmar and Saiyad and only DYSP Tarun Barot is still behind the bars in this case.
Sadiq Jamal, a resident of Bhavnagar, was killed in an encounter by the Gujarat police in Naroda area of the city on January 13, 2003.

The Gujarat High Court had ordered a CBI probe after a petition by Sadiq's brother Shabbir Jamal. The agency investigated the case and filed a charge sheet in December 2012.
In its charge sheet, CBI stated that the encounter was "staged" by the police.
CBI argued that Jamal was labelled as a "terrorist" who planned to kill the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and VHP leader Pravin Togadia to avenge the post-Godhra riots.