Prajapati case: CBI court summons 15 accused

The other five accused, including former state minister and Chief Minister Narendra Modi's close aide Amit Shah, today filed separate applications challenging the charge sheet filed against them.

"We have challenged the charge sheet on the grounds that CBI has not taken prior sanctions mandatory under section 197 of the CrPC for arraigning any public servant into a criminal case," said advocate Mitesh Amin, who represents Shah in the case.

The four other accused who also challenged the charge sheet today were former Additional DGP O P Mathur, former IGP CID Geetha Johri, former state DGP P C Pande and former investigating officer of the case DySP R K Patel.

All these five accused have not been yet arrested by the investigating agency.

The court will hear their applications on Friday and decide the issue of summoning those who have not been arrested yet by CBI, but have been named in the charge sheet.

Today while ordering to register the charge sheet, filed by CBI on September 29, special CBI court's additional chief judicial magistrate A Y Dave specified that all the accused who are already in the jail should remain present in the court on October 29.

Of the 15 accused, three are in Sabarmati jail and 11 are lodged in Palanpur prison since their arrest by state CID, when it was investigating the case.

Another accused, IPS officer Rajkumar Pandian, is lodged in Sabarmati jail in Sohrabuddin fake encounter case and though he has been named as an accused first by state CID and then by CBI in its respective charge sheets, he has not yet been arrested in this case.

In its charge sheet, CBI has named Shah, who is the prime accused in Sohrabuddin fake encounter and alleged murder of his wife Kauser Bi also, as the "kingpin" of the conspiracy in the alleged fake encounter case of Prajapati.

Prajapati was allegedly killed near Chhapri village in Danta, Palanpur on December 28, 2006.