New Delhi: Former Gujarat minister of state for home Amit Shah has been asked to leave Gujarat by Sunday morning and stay out of the state by the Supreme Court.
A two-judge bench comprising of Justice Aftab Alam and Justice RM Lodha heard the case at the residence of Justice Alam in New Delhi asking him to stay out of Gujarat till further order.
The Supreme Court on Saturday issued a notice to Amit Shah asking him why his bail in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case granted by the Gujarat High Court should not be cancelled.
The apex court fixed the next date of hearing on November 15 while hearing a petition by the Central Bureau of Investigation to cancel the bail given to Shah by Gujarat high Court.
The court also asked the CBI to supply a copy of its petition to Shah by November 6 asking him to reply by November 12 after which the agency will file its rejoinder.
CBI counsel KTS Tulsi pointed out that the investigating agency raised the timing of Shah's release from the jail to show that he enjoyed immense clout in Gujarat. He also expressed the fear that Shah could influence the witnesses in the case.
"Notices have been issue to Amit Shah. We have moved an urgent application seeking cancellation of his bail as we apprehended that Amit Shah will influence the witnesses. Amit Shah was asked to stay out of Gujarat till the next hearing. Amit Shah has agreed to it," said Tulsi.
Shah's lawyer Upender Yadav assured the court that Shah was ready to leave Gujarat.
Shah was given bail in the Sohrabuddin encounter case on Friday. He was released from the Sabarmati Central Jail at around 10 PM on Friday night in violation of the jail manual.
The CBI had arrested Shah on July 25, 2010. A close aide of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Shah has been described by the CBI as the "kingpin" of the entire conspiracy leading to the encounter of Sohrabuddin.
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has been accused of killing Sohrabuddin near Ahmedabad on grounds that he was a Lashkar-e-Toiba operative on November 26, 2005.
His wife Kauser-Bi was also allegedly killed in a fake encounter later as was an witness to her husband's killing, Tulsi Prajapati.
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