Ishrat case: CBI supplementary charge sheet may skip motive

CBI's proposed supplementary charge sheet in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case may not give the exact motive which allegedly led Intelligence Bureau officials to be part of the purported conspiracy.
Sources said the charge sheet, which has been finalised, may give the role of four Intelligence Bureau officials but added that the agency has not been able to zero-in on the motive which led to the encounter.
The agency has also got no evidence of any political sanction for the encounter in which 19-year-old Ishrat, Javed Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in 2004 allegedly by Gujarat Crime branch personnel.

The sources said CBI will focus on the role of IB officers who were allegedly part of the conspiracy but it is still not clear when the agency would proceed against them.
CBI has sought the opinion of the Law Ministry on whether sanction is needed to prosecute IB officers in the conspiracy, they said.
The sources said they have gathered enough evidence about the role of IB officers in the conspiracy behind the encounter but their examination has not revealed the motive which led to their involvement in the alleged crime.

There are contrary views on whether sanction from Home Ministry is needed to prosecute Special Director Rajinder Kumar (now retired), and three other officers P Mittal, M K Sinha and Rajiv Wankhede.

One view holds that since Kumar was in active service at the time of the alleged crime, sanction for his prosecution is needed from Home Ministry, which is the cadre controlling authority, they said.
Another opinion was that since he retired from service in July last year, the agency could go ahead with its charge sheet without any need for a sanction to prosecute, they said.
"No final decision for filing of the supplementary charge sheet has been taken as yet. The matter is still under consideration," CBI spokesperson, Kanchan Prasad had said.