SC rejects plea alleging conspiracy behind Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare

The Supreme Court today dismissed the plea of a former senior police officer of Maharashtra alleging a conspiracy in the death of former state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

The top court said it cannot reopen the case as terrorist Ajmal Kasab's conviction was upheld and death sentence has been executed.

A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan told former Maharashtra IG S M Mushriff that his doubts do not translate into actionable evidence which warrants reopening of the case.

"You may have some doubts or beliefs, but that does not translate into actionable evidence which would warrant reopening of the case in which the death sentence was confirmed and now stands executed," the bench said.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising said the petitioner before the apex court was a police officer who has even written two books which create some doubts over the death of Karkare.

She said the original petitioner before the Bombay High Court is now dead and the court had dismissed the plea giving the liberty to him to pursue appropriate remedy.

"We don't need to tell you everything. Your case is that Karkare was not killed in the terror attack but some policemen got him killed. Here the concerned terrorist's conviction was upheld. His death award was confirmed and the sentence is now executed," the bench said.

Jaising said that Karkare was a victim of some conspiracy by "some other persons".

To this, the bench said, "Sorry, this case cannot be reopened".

On January 28, the High Court has refused to order a probe into the death of Karkare and disposed of a petition alleging that his killing during the Mumbai terror attacks of November 26, 2008 was a conspiracy hatched by some right-wing extremists.

The court had said nothing survives in the public interest litigation filed by one Radhakant Yadav, the former MLA from Bihar, seeking the setting up of a special investigation team to probe this angle.

Yadav had approached the high court in August 2010 claiming that Karkare was not killed by Pakistani terrorists, Ajmal Kasab and Abu Ismail.

The petition claimed that Karkare was, in fact, killed by right-wing extremists after the former ATS chief arrested several members of the Abhinav Bharat in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case.

The PIL before high court had relied on a book written by Mushrif, titled 'Who Killed Karkare'.

Karkare, along with senior police officials Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar, were killed outside the Cama hospital in south Mumbai after Kasab and his partner Ismail opened fire on their police van during the attack.