New Delhi:
Amit Shah, Gujarat's Minister of State for Home, has confirmed that he will obey a CBI summons and appear for questioning on Friday in connection with what's known as the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. Shah, who is a close aide of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, was first ordered on Thursday morning to show up for questioning by 1 pm. When there was no sign of him, the CBI issued a second summons with a deadline of 1 pm on Friday.
In a faxed statement, Shah said that the fact that he was given little notice proves that the CBI "is working with malice."
Here's the full statement:Due to some pressing personal reasons, I was out of the headquarters today and it was during this time that the CBI served a summons at my residence. By the time I got the message it was way beyond the 1 pm deadline set by the CBI. It's surprising that an agency like the CBI behaved like this with the state government ministers. It's not just surprising, but also suspicious.
If the CBI would have given me enough time, I would have appeared before them but by serving me a summons at such a short notice it gave mischievous elements to spread baseless allegations against me that I was running away from law. Before I appear before the CBI tomorrow, I want to present some facts before the people of Gujarat.
The Sohrabuddin case has gone through various procedures of law. Even a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has investigated the case and never ever did my name crop up either in the capacity of the minister of state or individually. Despite that the Congress led government in order to carry out a 'political encounter' got my name dragged into the controversy.
The courts will decide whether the encounter was fake or not, but I as an individual have always respected the constitution and the rule of law. The baseless mindless allegations against me and the BJP government are being spread at the behest of the Congress government in power.