New Delhi: In a huge relief to BJP President Amit Shah, the Supreme Court on Monday rejected a special leave petition filed by former IAS officer Harsh Mander challenging an order of the Bombay High Court upholding the discharge of Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.
A bench of Justices S.A. Bobde and Ashok Bhushan dismissed the SLP observing that being a third party, the petitioner has no locus standi to file the appeal when Sohrabuddin’s brother Rubabuddin, the interested person, had chosen to withdraw the appeal in the Bombay HC against the discharge.
On December 30, 2014, a CBI court in Mumbai had discharged Mr Shah in the alleged fake encounter case saying there existed “no case” against him and that he had been implicated for “political reasons”. The HC in March this year had upheld this order holding that Mr Mander was not an aggrieved party in the case.
Nobody above law, argues Sibal
The present appeal by former IAS officer Harsh Mander is against this order.
Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mr Mander submitted that the petitioner had filed the petition even before Rubabuddin, brother of Sohrabuddin, withdrew his appeal.
“There are political reasons for the CBI not filing an appeal against the discharge. When there are serious allegations of murder the High Court was wrong in dismissing the petition on locus standi without deciding the issue on merits. Public must get the feeling that nobody is above the law,” he said.
