Sohrabuddin Case Claims Yet Another Judge, Tweets Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi today questioned the reassignment of several petitions challenging the discharge of police officers in the Sohrabuddin case. After three weeks of hearing, the petitions were handed to a different judge of Bombay high court last week. The move, called routine by the authorities, has been questioned by a section of the legal circle. The politically sensitive issue was one of the triggers of the unprecedented rift within the nation's top judiciary last month and critics questioned the need to switch judges at this point.

The alleged fake encounter case -- in which BJP chief Amit Shah was an accused - ran into controversy last year after questions were raised about the death of special judge BH Loya, who was hearing the case. Judge Loya had died of a cardiac arrest in 2014. The judge who replaced him had discharged Amit Shah, saying there was not enough evidence to put him on trial. In course of the trial in the 12-year-old case, several top police officers of Gujarat and Rajasthan have also been discharged.

Today, Rahul Gandhi tweeted:
 

His party was more direct. Tweeting under the hashtag #HowDidLoyaDie, the Congress said: There seems to be a strange pattern connecting cases involving Amit Shah and judges hearing those cases. What the country wants know (and urgently) is: #HowDidLoyaDie"

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Justice Revati Mohite-Dere, who was hearing the petitions challenging the discharge of the police officers, had recently expressed reservations about the CBI's case against the accused and said she was not receiving "enough support" from the agency.  On Saturday, the case was assigned to Justice NW Sambre. A notice published on the high court website showed several other cases were also re-assigned.

The opposition Nationalist Congress party of Sharad Pawar has also questioned the shift. Senior criminal lawyer and NCP leader Majeed Memon told NDTV: "What is the reason for the administration in the Bombay High Court to take away this matter, which is so sensitive, which the entire nation is watching, where the judge has given clear indications that she was not happy with the CBI's case and where the matter has been substantially heard?"

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Sohrabuddin Shaikh, a gangster with alleged terror links, and his wife Kausar Bi were killed in a suspected fake encounter by the Gujarat police in November 2005. His aide Tulsiram Prajapati was killed in another alleged fake encounter by the Gujarat and Rajasthan police in December 2006.