Supreme court probes bail to Gujarat police official

New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday initiated the process for first-hand scrutiny of a sessions court order giving bail to a Gujarat police official suspected to be involved in the staged killing of Ujjain resident Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife and a family friend.

A bench of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and P.K. Balasubramanyam began the process of scrutinising the bail to Gujarat police official Narendra Kumar Amin by admitting a special leave petition filed by the state government as per its directions last Monday.

The bench issued notice to Amin, deputy superintendent of police, who had been granted anticipatory bail by an Ahmedabad sessions court. Amin is presently posted in the Crime Investigation Department of the state's police force.

The bench fixed Friday to hear the petition against bail to Amin.

Last Monday, the bench had asked the Gujarat government to directly file an appeal against the sessions court order giving bail to Amin after Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam had pointed out a series of inconsistencies in the state government probe into the November 2005 killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife.

Elaborating on lapses into the probe, Subramaniam, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the case, had pointed out that the Gujarat government was so biased in favour of the erring police officers that it did not even challenge before the Gujarat High Court the anticipatory bail granted to Amin.

Reading the sessions court order, Subramaniam pointed out that the order virtually sounded like a character certificate to Amin, against whom a police head constable had given a statement that he might be involved in the killing of Sheikh's wife Kausar Bi.

At this, the bench had asked counsels, including the Gujarat government counsel K.T.S. Tulsi, if it had the power to directly entertain a petition against the order of a sessions court.

A petition against a sessions court generally goes to the high court, before reaching the Supreme Court.

As the counsel assured the apex court that it had enormous power under the constitution, the bench asked the state government to file a petition directly before it to challenge the sessions court bail order to Amin.