The CBI court‘s show cause notice asks the former Gujarat Minister of State for Home why he should not be made an accused in the case

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here issued notices to the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s close confidante Amit Shah in the 2004 Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.

The CBI court’s show cause notice asked Mr. Shah, the then Minister of State for Home and presently l BJP general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, why he should not be made an accused in the encounter case. Notices have also been issued to the then Ahmedabad Police Commissioner K.R. Kaushik and the CBI.

This follows an application by Gopinath Pillai, father of Javed Pillai who was among the four victims of the encounter besides 18-year-old Mumbai girl Ishrat Jahan. The notices are returnable on March 26.

The CBI filed two charge sheets in the fake encounter case naming seven Gujarat police officials and four Intelligence Bureau officials, including the then State IB chief Rajinder Kumar, as the accused. The names of Mr. Amit Shah and Mr. Kaushik did not figure in the charge sheet.