Sohrabuddin encounter: CBI court discharges Rajkumar Pandiyan

In a major setback for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a city special court on Thursday discharged Gujarat IPS officer Rajkumar Pandiyan in connection with the alleged fake encounter killing case of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati. Special CBI judge M.B. Gosavi on Thursday discharged Pandiyan on the "technical" ground stating that the investigating agency had not obtained the required sanction under Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code to prosecute him.

Since December 2014, the court has discharged 10 key accused, including Pandiyan and then Gujarat minister Amit Shah, now the BJP's national president, in the case.

On August 18 this year, senior Gujarat police officer Narendra K Amin was discharged from the case by the court due to inadequate evidence to prosecute him.

According to the prosecution, Pandiyan had allegedly played a "key role in abducting Sohrabuddin and his wife Kauserbi from Hyderabad before they were killed" in the alleged fake encounter. The CBI had claimed that Pandiyan was a part of the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) that picked up the couple. The agency said that he also allegedly took "active part" in the conspiracy from the beginning.

According to the chargesheet filed by the CBI, the Gujarat police team allegedly killed Sohrabuddin in a fake encounter near Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on November 26 2005. A few days later, Kausarbi, too, was allegedly bumped off.

In December 2006, the police in Banaskantha, Gujarat, allegedly killed a key case witness Tulsiram Prajapati.

Besides Mr Amin, Mr Shah and Mr Pandiyan, those discharged in the case so far include Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria, Rajasthan-based businessman Vimal Patni, former Gujarat police chief P.C. Pande, ADGP Geeta Johri, Gujarat police officer Abhay Chudasama and two others.

In September 2012, following CBI's request for a fair trial, the Sohrabuddin encounter case was transferred to a Mumbai court.