By TCN Special Correspondent,
Ahmadabad: Is Nayabuddin, the brother of Sohrabuddin Sheikh gunned down in a fake encounter by a team of cops from Gujarat and Rajasthan in November 2005, likely to meet the same fate as Zaheera Sheikh of the Best Bakery?
The question is being asked in legal and political circles after Nayabuddin turned hostile and retracted a part of depositions he had made with the central bureau of investigation(CBI) probing the fake encounter case.
Zaheera Sheikh, who had turned hostile, was punished by the Supreme Court and imprisoned on charges of perjury.
Last week, Nayabuddin sent a notarized affidavit to the special CBI court here stating that he never told CBI that IPS official Abhay Chudasma ever asked him to withdraw the Sohrabuddin case from the Supreme Court or threatened him in this connection or offered any allurement. But the CBI, according to his affidavit, falsely attributed these facts to him in the charge-sheet.
This created panic in the political and legal circles, particularly those extending assistance to the family in their fight for justice. What was more worrying was the fact that a copy of the affidavit reached to the office of a local English daily and the development got wide publicity.
Though all efforts to contact Nayabuddin failed, his elder brother chief complainant in the case Rubabuddin later on told mediapersons that Nayabuddin signed the affidavit under political pressure. Nayabuddin was booked as a co-accused in Popular Builders firing case in 2004 under Navrangpura police station of Ahmedabad. Though nine other accused involved in the case have been arrested, he is still `absconding’ in police records despite the fact that he lives in Haraniya village of Ujjain district in MP with his family.
Rubabuddin, in a statement, said that he was kept in dark by Nayabuddin about the affidavit. But Nayabuddin, according to Rubabuddin, took this step to avoid harassment in the Popular Builders case in which he was falsely booked as an accused. Both Nayabuddin and Rubabuddin had told CBI in their statements that Chudasma had offered them money to withdraw the case and threatened of dire consequences in case of non-compliance. But Rubabuddin has said that he would not retract from his position under any circumstances and fight the case till justice is achieved.
According to legal experts, Rubabuddin’s affidavit could be used by the accused persons to question the credibility of entire CBI investigation and thus secure bail for the accused persons, particularly, politicians involved in the case. On the other hand, Nayabuddin could also be charged of perjury if the court seeks a serious note of it and punished for it like Zaheera Sheikh, say legal experts.
Meanwhile, special CBI court is engaged with hearing arguments on bail plea of former minister Amit Shah facing charges as chief conspirator in the case. A total of 15 police officials, including four IPS officers, have been jailed in the case as confessed by the state government on the floor of the state assembly on September 7.