The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday directed the CBI to streamline its investigation in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case and file a chargesheet by 4 July.
The court also ordered that Gujarat cadre IPS officer Satish Verma, who is one of the officers investigating the case, be sent back to the State from 23 June, 2013. A division bench of justice Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari told the CBI that there was considerable delay in the investigation and
filing of the charge sheet resulting in the accused being released on bail.
‘This needs to be streamlined and the agency is directed to file the charge sheet in this case by July 4 so that no other accused gets the benefit of bail due to lapse of time,’ the bench said.
Commenting on the manner of investigation conducted so far by the investigating agency, the court said CBI needs to concentrate on the genuineness of encounter instead of other aspects like the status of the persons who have lost their lives in the encounter. ‘We just want to ensure that the investigation remains on track so that the truth can be unearthed,’ it said. On utilisation of services of Verma by the CBI, the court said sufficient time was given to CBI to avail Verma’s services.
‘We direct that his services to CBI will be available only till 23 June and from the next date, he shall report back to the State government,’ the court further said.