By IANS,
Gandhinagar: The Gujarat High Court Monday rejected the bail application of Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Dinesh M.N., an accused in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake shootout case.
Earlier in April, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court also rejected his bail application.
Dinesh M.N., a Rajasthan cadre IPS officer, mentioned in his plea that investigation of the case has been transferred to the CBI by the Supreme Court and a fresh investigation would take a long time.
He pleaded that he has been in judicial custody for the last three years and as investigation is expected to continue for an extended period he may be given interim relief. He added that he was an IPS officer and would not flee if granted bail.
However, Justice H.B. Antani rejected the plea and confirmed the CBI’s argument that the delay in investigation cannot be a ground to obtain regular bail.
He stated that the Supreme Court has given six months to the CBI to complete the investigation and the bail cannot be granted at this stage. The Supreme Court transferred the investigation of this case to CBI Feb 1.
Dinesh M.N. is one of the 13 police officers and men arrested by the Gujarat CID (crime) in connection with the fake encounter case and subsequently granted bail by a sessions court in October 2007.
In January 2008, the high court had cancelled the bail of Dinesh and Deputy Superintendent of Police N.K. Amin following an appeal by the state challenging the sessions court’s decision. D.G. Vanzara and Rajkumar Pandian, two other IPS officers, are also in judicial custody.