'Home minister Amit Shah was the chief guest at the National Human Rights Commission’s Foundation Day celebrations on Saturday, October 12. The NHRC has existed as a body for 26 years, since 1993, and has reportedly disposed of nearly 18 lakh cases. It has directed about Rs 176 crore of relief to various victims of human rights violations. The current chairperson of the NHRC, a quasi-judicial body with the powers of a civil court, is Justice H.L. Dattu.
'The Congress government in Chhattisgarh has lodged an FIR against tribal rights activist Soni Sori and Bastar-based academic and researcher Bela Bhatia under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code. The FIR was lodged on September 16 at Kirandul police station of Dantewada district. The activists say the purpose of the FIR is to counter their support for villagers who have been suspicious of the circumstances under which the September 13 encounter with alleged Maoists took place...'
'Justice Akil Abdulhamid Kureshi’s appointment as a high court chief justice continues to spur debate with the Supreme Court giving in to the Modi government’s insistence that he not be sent to Madhya Pradesh as the collegium had initially decided: the judge has instead been recommended for the position of chief justice of the Tripura high court. Justice Kureshi is currently the senior most judge in the Gujarat high court. As a high court judge, he had in 2010 sent Amit Shah to police custody in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.
'Lt Colonel Dharamveer Singh had raised a flag over alleged fake encounters in Northeast. He is now facing court martial for insubordination and keeping unaccounted arms... In September 2016, a sensitive situation reached the offices of Indian Army’s Eastern Command in Kolkata. One of its officers, Lt Colonel Dharamveer Singh of the Special Forces, alleged that a team of an army intelligence unit in Nagaland had committed fake encounters and dacoity against civilians in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland in 2010 and 2011.
'Exactly thirteen years ago to the day, Gujarat police shot dead a man called Sohrabuddin Sheikh. Like many similar “encounter” killings in the state at the time, this death, too, would have gone unnoticed in the rest of the country. But a series of developments after the murder on November 26, 2005 linked Sohrabuddin’s name indelibly with that of another man — Amit Shah. Strenuous efforts have been made over the last four and a half years to obliterate that link from public memory.
'In explosive testimony before the special Central Bureau of Investigation court here on Wednesday, Sandeep Tamgadge, chief investigating officer in the 2006 Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case, has said that Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and IPS officers D.G. Vanzara, Dinesh M.N. and Rajkumar Pandiyan were the “principal conspirators” in the controversial killing.
'For the last three years, the former investigating officer (IO) of the Sohrabuddin-Kauser Bi, Tulsiram Prajapati killing cases, is facing multiple criminal investigations at the hands of his own agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Evidence has emerged suggesting that the CBI is possibly trying to frame its former IO by manufacturing false evidence against him. The officer in question is Sandeep Tamgadge, a 2001 batch IPS officer belonging to the Nagaland cadre. Tamgadge belongs to Scheduled caste and originally belongs to Nagpur in Maharashtra.
'A special court of the Central Investigation Bureau in Mumbai on Tuesday discharged former Inspector General of Gujarat DG Vanzara and IPS officer Dinesh MN in the alleged fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin Sheikh. Vanzara, who was released on bail in April last year, is also the key accused in Ishrat Jahan and Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter cases. He had retired from the police force while in jail in 2014...'
The withdrawal:
Rubabuddin Sheikh has withdrawn his petition against BJP president Amit Shah in the Bombay High Court
The petition questioned Shah's discharge by a CBI court in connection with the encounter of Rubabuddin's brother Sohrabuddin
The reason:
Rubabuddin says he is too tired to continue fighting. He has neither the finances nor the energy
No one came forward to help him. Not even the Congress
More in the story
Is there evidence against those who got Sohrabuddin killed?
Is Rubabuddin withdrawing the case under fear?
'Supreme Court Bar Association president Dushyant Dave on Wednesday questioned the top court's decision to grant bail to all accused in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, and also former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani, who was convicted for the murder of 70 people during the 2002 Gujarat riots. A bench comprising Justices JS Khehar, Jasti Chelameswar, Madan B Lokur, Kurian Joseph and Adarsh Kumar Goel is hearing petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the National Judicial Commission Act (NJAC), which they claim will erode judicial independence...
