Sohrabuddin Case: BLA writes to ACJ Tahilramani in protest of reassignment of case

The Bombay Lawyers Association (BLA) has written to Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court Justice VK Tahilramani, asking her to take “remedial action” in relation to the reassignment of the Sohrabuddin encounter case..The review application in the case was being heard by Justice Revati Mohite-Dere, until the matter was re-assigned to Justice NW Sambre, who will hear it with effect from February 26..The change of assignment seems to be part of a routine roster overhaul, where several other benches have also been changed. However, the same raises a few eyebrows, given the fact that the judge has been hearing the matter for the last three weeks..The letter, signed by BLA President Ahmed Abdi and addressed to Acting Chief Justice Tahilramani, states that the transfer “is particularly intriguing considering how Justice Dere has consistently reprimanded the (Central Bureau of Investigation) CBI’s approach to the case.”.Justice Mohite-Dere had been critical of the assistance being rendered by the premier investigation agency to the Court in this case, and had called out the CBI over other lapses. The judge had begun hearing the revision applications filed by both the CBI and Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s brother Rubabuddin on daily basis three weeks ago..Last month, Justice Revati Mohite-Dere had quashed a lower court order gagging the media from reporting on the trial..As per the assignment, Justice Mohite-Dere will now hear bail, anticipatory bail, and other bail-related applications..As per the letter sent by BLA, fifteen out of thirty-eight accused named in the CBI’s initial chargesheet, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah, had been discharged by the trial court. Quite astonishingly, thirty-four of the forty-two witnesses examined have tuned hostile..It is the BLA’s contention that,.“in this background change of assignment of Justcie Dere is sending wrong signals to the public at large , (and) undermining the faith of the people in the institution of the judiciary.“.The letter also questions the assignment of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the BLA seeking that the Court direct the CBI to file a revision application challenging the discharge of Amit Shah in the case, to a Bench of which Justice Bhushan Gavai is a part..Justice Gavai was one of two judges who told the media that there was no cover up in the death of Judge BH Loya. Judge Loya, who was presiding over the Sohrabuddin trial, died of a cardiac arrest on December 1, while attending the wedding of a colleague’s daughter in Nagpur. A number of petitions have been filed seeking a detailed probe into the judge’s death..In this context, the BLA has asked the ACJ to take remedial action “so that justice is not only done, but appears to have been done”..Read the letter