Ishrat case: SC asks CBI to reply to bail plea of Gujarat DySP

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the CBI on the bail plea of suspended Deputy Superintendent of Police N K Amin who is in jail in connection with the 2004 Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

A bench headed by Justice B S Chauhan issued notice to the probe agency on the plea of Amin that he be granted statutory bail under a CrPC provision as the charge sheet has not been filed within 90 days of his arrest.

"You cannot keep a person in custody for more than 90 days if the charge sheet is not filed," senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for Amin, said.

Amin, who was arrested on April 4, contended that the charge sheet filed on July 3 was incomplete, hence it amounted to not filing the charge sheet within 90 days.

He has moved the apex court against an order of Gujarat High Court by which his bail plea was dismissed.

A Gujarat lower court had rejected his bail plea on July 9, saying that the charge sheet filed by CBI could not be deemed incomplete.

The charge sheet against Amin and six other police officers alleges that 19-year-old Mumbai-based girl Ishrat Jahan, Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Zeeshan Johar and Amjad Ali Rana were killed in a fake encounter in 2004.

It alleged that it was a joint operation of state police and Intelligence Bureau. Amin is accused of abducting Ishrat and Sheikh from Vasad two days prior to the killings, and firing the shots during the so-called encounter.

IPS officer G L Singhal, retired DSP J G Parmar, Mehsana DySP Tarun Barot and commando Anaju Chaudhary have been granted default bail in the case by the special CBI court as the agency failed to file charge sheet within 90 days of their arrest.