A special CBI court today reserved its order on the bail application of suspended IPS officer G L Singhal, an accused in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.
After hearing the arguments, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate S H Khutwad said he would pronounce the order on May 27.
Singhal, who was arrested by CBI on February 21, has sought bail on the ground that the agency failed to file charge sheet within the stipulated 90 days.
Another accused and police officer, J G Parmar, who was arrested on February 22, has also filed bail application on the same ground.
CBI lawyer today sought time to file reply to Parmar's application. Granting time, the court fixed hearing on his application for Monday.
Mumbai-based 19-year-old Ishrat Jahan, Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, two alleged Pakistani nationals Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johan were killed in an encounter on June 15, 2004 between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar by Gujarat police who had then claimed that they were part of conspiracy to assassinate Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Opposing Singhal's bail plea, investigating officer DySP G Kalaimani said in his written reply that CBI was yet to interrogate accused police officers P P Pandey and D G Vanzara.
Pandey is absconding while Vanzara is in Taloja jail in Maharashtra in Soharabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
Kalaimani said Vanzara's arrest was delayed because of technical problems with the transfer warrant. "In view of the facts and wide-spread nature and scope of the investigation, the CBI was not able to complete the investigation within 90 days," his reply said.
