New Delhi, January 21: In its plea in the Supreme Court to transfer the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter trial out of Gujarat, the CBI has accused the entire state machinery as “complicit” in the “atrocious crimes”; described itself as being a “minority” and on the backfoot; and said it cannot protect witnesses from “systematic elimination” by the accused. Excerpts from the CBI’s transfer petition and its synopsis filed in the Supreme Court:
OBJECTIVE
This transfer petition is being filed to ensure that one of the most controversial criminal trials in the country does not get mired and crushed by political and religious pressures.
POLARISATION
The respondents have consciously given a communal hue to the entire case, thereby polarising religious feelings in the state.
NO FAITH
In a state of ascending disharmony and unrest between religious communities, it is virtually impossible for the justice delivery machinery to render justice objectively and without fear or favour. It is submitted that a free and fair trial would not be held if the same is conducted in the State of Gujarat.
MINORITY’ CBI
When the entire state machinery is complicit in committing these atrocious crimes, the CBI, which is already in a minority and on the backfoot, would find it difficult to protect witnesses and instil confidence in the people of the state who would otherwise be willing to come forward and testify against the respondents.
DIVIDE
In the course of investigation, spread over 5 years, a bitterly communal twist to the incident is discernable from the beginning. The fact that the perpetrators by and large are members of one community; they come from a particular political background and some important witnesses/victims are by and large from the other community.