Indicating that his ministry may even disown Rajendra Kumar, special director, Intelligence Bureau, whose alleged role in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case is being probed by the CBI, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Thursday maintained that those guilty of carrying out the fake encounter should be punished.
“Facts are facts. Guilty should be punished,” Mr Shinde told a news agency when asked to comment on the CBI’s submission to the court. The CBI, which filed its first chargesheet in the Ishrat Jahan fake counter case in a court in Ahmedabad on July 2, sought more time from the court to investigate the role of four officers, including Mr Kumar, from the IB in the entire conspiracy.
Mr Shinde’s statement bears significance as home ministry officials have been maintaining that there was not enough evidence against Mr Kumar and three others in the alleged fake encounter case. The home ministry has maintained that the CBI does not have enough evidence to prosecute Mr Kumar in the alleged fake encounter case and it was unlikely to give sanction to the CBI to prosecute the senior IPS officer.
The CBI has not sought the prosecution sanction from the home ministry, which is the cadre controlling authority of IPS officers. However, the CBI has already clarified that they do not need sanction from the home ministry to prosecute Mr Kumar as the case in point is of alleged fake encounter which is not the part of the duty of any government officers.
Sources said the CBI may prosecute and arrest Mr Kumar after his retirement on July 31.