New Delhi:
Senior advocate K T S Tulsi will appear for the CBI in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, in which former Gujarat Minister Amit Shah is an accused and is being represented by eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani.
An additional solicitor general would also appear on behalf of the Central investigating agency for which a notification will be issued shortly, official sources said.
Jethmalani recently became a member of the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan on a ticket given by BJP. His candidature was reportedly backed by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
BJP has accused the Central government of 'misusing' the CBI in the Sohrabuddin case, a charge denied by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Shah, former Gujarat Minister of State for Home, was arrested Sunday by the CBI on charges of murder and under other sections of the IPC in connection with the 2005 Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. He is currently lodged in Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad.
CBI's bid to rope in Tulsi to represent it in Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case may raise eyebrows as he had earlier appeared for Gujarat government in the Supreme Court.
Tulsi, however, maintained the issue of conflict of interest will not arise in the case which has been investigated by two different agencies.
"Two agencies -- state police and CBI -- was involved in the investigation into the case and the fact remains that the encounter was fake," he said adding the conflict of interest would also not arise as he was not aware of the details of the probe done by CBI. "If CBI feels that there is no conflict of interest, then there is no problem," he told PTI.
The senior advocate, who was appearing for the state government during the proceedings in the apex court in 2007, said he has informed CBI about this fact. "I have only given my consent and I have told CBI about my previous asssociation with this case. There is no official order about it till now," he said.
Tulsi had withdrawn himself from appearing for Gujarat government in the case after he came to know that he was kept in the dark by the state police that Soharabuddin was killed in a fake encounter and subsequently his wife Kauser Bi was also eliminated.
He said till now he has not been consulted by CBI relating to investigations into the case which led to the arrest of Amit Shah, former junior Home Minister in
Gujarat and a key aide of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.