New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Friday declined to grant bail to IPS officer M N Dinesh, a key accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
A bench of Justices P Sathsivam and H L Dattu, however, granted liberty to the IPS officer to move to the Gujarat High Court with his plea and treated his bail application as "dismissed as withdrawn".
Earlier, counsel for the IPS officer made a strong plea for bail on the ground that Dinesh has been languishing in jail for the last three years for his alleged role in the killings in which several others police officers including DIG D G Banjara have been arraigned as accused. The counsel said that Dinesh should be granted bail "in view of the changed circumstances" as the apex court had recently entrusted the investigation into the killings to the CBI.
However, the judges were not convinced with the argument and directed the IPS officer to approach the Gujarat High Court for remedy.
The IPS officer was earlier granted bail by a Sessions Court. However, the Gujarat High Court, on an appeal by the state, cancelled his bail following which he appealed in the apex court. The apex court too had earlier affirmed the High Court order.
But after the Supreme Court directed the CBI investigation, Dinesh claimed that the changed circumstances warranted bail.