Ishrat Jahan Case: CBI May Be Asked To Probe Missing Papers, Say Sources

New Delhi: A home ministry inquiry has established that documents relating to the Ishrat Jahan encounter case have indeed gone missing during the tenure of former home minister P Chidambaram. But it failed to pin down responsibility - mentioning only that the papers were "removed" or "misplaced". Now, the government may order a CBI inquiry to establish culpability, sources said.

The 52-page report of the inquiry, conducted by Additional Secretary B K Prasad, was submitted to the Union Home Secretary today.  

In a surprising twist, the inquiry also found that a consultation with then Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily -- on the controversial second affidavit that removed all references to Ishrat's alleged connection with Lashkar-e-Taiba which were mentioned in the first - was not made part of the record.  

The report, it is understood, says neither then Home Secretary GK Pillai nor then Joint Secretary M Diptivilasa recorded the meeting. "All ministries frequently consult the law ministry. I cannot recollect any specific meeting," Mr Moily told NDTV. Mr Pillai refused to comment on the report.

In March, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Lok Sabha that crucial documents regarding the case and the second affidavit, had gone missing. Mr Pillai had claimed he had not been consulted before controversial second affidavit was filed.

The BJP has accused Mr Chidambaram of amending the first affidavit to suit the Congress stand that Ishrat, killed along with three others in 2004 by Gujarat Police officers, was innocent and shot in cold blood on the orders of the Gujarat government.

Senior ministry sources told NDTV that according to the inquiry, the documents went missing between 18 September and 28 September 2009, just as the ministry finalised and filed the second affidavit.

A total of five documents were found missing. These include letters written by Mr Pillai to then Attorney General, draft affidavits sent to the law officer, the law officer's comments and the final corrections to the affidavit made by Mr Chidambaram. One of these - the draft affidavit sent to the Attorney General - was however recovered from a computer used by Mr Pillai.

Mr Chidambaram has refused to comment on the report. Earlier, he had told the media there was nothing morally, politically and legally wrong in the second affidavit. He said it was his duty to correct the first affidavit, which was drafted without his approval.

"Intelligence inputs are only intelligence inputs and not conclusive evidence," he had said, adding that "I want all files to be put on record. It is incomprehensible why some files are missing."