The Gujarat High Court today dismissed a plea by the father of a youth allegedly killed in a staged encounter by the Ahmedabad police in 2003, seeking a compensation of Rs 50 lakhs from the state government.
Justice J B Pardiwala dismissed the plea by Jamal Mehtar, the father of alleged encounter victim Sadiq Jamal, taking into account the government's argument that the special CBI court was yet to decide whether the encounter was fake as the trial was underway.
Sadiq was killed in an alleged fake encounter by the Ahmedabad police in 2003.
The CBI is conducting further probe, the government counsel told the high court bench.
Jamal Mehtar's petition said that killing of his son while in police custody was a violation of the Article 21 of the Constitution (which says no persons shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law) by the state government, and he should be compensated for it.
He cited a Supreme Court order of August 2009 asking the state government to pay compensation to the family of Sohrabuddin Sheikh who was killed in a fake encounter.
Sadiq Jamal was killed in Ahmedabad on November 13, 2003. The police had claimed that he was a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist and was on a mission to kill the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
In its charge-sheet filed before a special court here in 2012, the CBI said it was a staged encounter. Jamal was brought to Ahmedabad from the custody of Mumbai police by the state police officials Tarun Barot and seven others before the so-called encounter, the CBI said.
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