GK Pillai knew of changes in Ishrat affidavit: Probe panel

The panel noted that a draft copy of a letter addressed to then Attorney General late Goolam E Vahanvati by the then Home Secretary GK Pillai on September 18, 2009, has been recovered from the computer of the office of the Home Secretary, which refers to some discussions in the chamber of the Law Minister in regard to the supplementary affidavit.

The panel’s claim assumes significance as it was Pillai, few months ago, who alleged that Chidambaram as Home Minister “bypassed him” and had rewritten the affidavit.

“However, the fact that there was some discussion in the chamber of Hon’ble Law Minister regarding filing of supplementary affidavit has not been recorded anywhere on the file either by the Joint Secretary or by the then Home Secretary,” said the panel, which has failed to pin-point the people responsible for it and rather chose to conclude that it may have been “knowingly” removed or “unintentionally” misplaced.

The first affidavit was filed on the basis of inputs from the Maharashtra and Gujarat Police besides Intelligence Bureau where it was said that Ishrat, who was killed in the outskirts of Ahmedabad in 2004, was an activist of terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba but it was ignored in the second affidavit.

The second affidavit, claimed to have been drafted by Chidambaram, said there was no conclusive evidence to prove that Ishrat was a terrorist.