Mumbai: The ruling of the Bombay High Court, discharging all six senior IPS officers of Gujarat and Rajasthan Police, does not seem to have gone down well with Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s family. As a result, Sohrabuddin’s brother Rubabuddin, who had dragged all the officers to HC, has now decided he would not depose before the special court. In a telephonic conversation with The Free Press Journal, Rubabuddin criticised the judgment pronounced by the single-judge bench of Justice Anant Badar, discharging VG Vanzara, Rajkumar Pandian, Narendra Amin (Gujarat Police) and Dinesh MN, Dalpatsingh Rathod and Vipul Aggarwal (Rajasthan Police) from the case. “I do not agree with the HC judgment. I have faith in the judiciary, but I condemn this order. I will approach the Supreme Court and seek justice for my slain brother and my family,” Rubabuddin said.
“Before the SC, I will also seek transfer of the judge, who is presiding over the special court. I have no trust in the special judge Sunil Sharma and thus want to get the trial transferred to some other judge,” he added. Rubabuddin, who is due to depose before the special judge this month, has refused to step into the witness box, now. “I will not enter the witness box unless the trial is transferred to some other judge. Even if I receive summons, I will not appear before the court,” he said.
He further said the judgment could have been different had Justice Badar not heard the matter. “Justice Revati Mohite-Dere had heard the matter. If she would have continued to hear the matter to the end, then the judgment would have been different,” a confident Rubabuddin said. Notably, Justice Mohite-Dere had heard the pleas of Rubabuddin challenging the discharge of these officers for nearly a month and was about to close the matter for orders. She had even pulled up the CBI for ‘not assisting’ the court properly. In a sudden change of assignment, the pleas were however, assigned to the bench of Justice Badar.
“If none of the senior IPS officers were involved in plotting to kill my brother, his wife and Tulsiram Prajapati, then does it mean the constables (who are facing trial) of the two states hatched this conspiracy? It is a known fact that junior officers follow the instructions of their seniors for each and everything,” Rubabuddin said.
