Court notice to CBI on Amit Shah associate’s bail plea

GANDHINAGAR - The Gujarat High Court Friday issued notice to the CBI on the anticipatory bail plea of Yashpal Chudasama, a close aide of former minister Amit Shah, an accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh staged shoutout case.

Ajay Patel, another aide of the former minister, has also filed for anticipatory bail but the matter is yet to come up. The notice is returnable Sep 13.

A special CBI court had on Aug 26 rejected the anticipatory bail application of both Chudasama and Patel against whom non bailable warrants were issued in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case.

Special CBI judge G.K. Upadhyay, while rejecting the plea, said that since a non-bailable warrant was pending against them in a serious offence, their application for anticipatory bail cannot be entertained. The court said since the charges against Chudasama and Patel are threatening the witnesses and destruction of evidence, their plea should be rejected.

The two are office bearers of Ahmedabad District Cooperative (ADC) bank. They have been absconding after their names appeared in the chargesheet filed by CBI in the Sohrabuddin case.

Chudasama and Patel’s lawyers, during hearing of their application, pleaded that they were not involved in Sheikh’s killing in a staged shoot-out in November 2005.

The CBI had opposed the plea on the ground that since a non-bailable warrant was pending against them, anticipatory bail cannot be granted. The two are accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh killing case and that of his wife Kausar Bi and their close friend Tulsiram Prajapati.

Patel and Yashpal Chudasama had actively participated in the main conspiracy and the crime committed in furtherance to the conspiracy, according to the chargesheet.