Gandhinagar/New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS): The Gujarat High Court Monday took the CBI to task for shoddy investigation and acquitted all the 12 accused in the murder of former minister and BJP leader Haren Pandya. It, however, upheld the other charges of criminal conspiracy and attempt to murder in another case that had been clubbed with Pandya's.
Acquitting the accused of the murder charge, a division bench of Justices D.H. Waghela and J.C. Upadhyaya Monday took the CBI apart for a "botched and blinkered" investigation that left a lot to be desired. "The investigating officers concerned ought to be held accountable for their ineptitude resulting in injustice, huge harassment of many persons concerned and enormous waste of public resources and public time of the courts," the judgement noted.
Pandya was killed on the morning of March 26, 2003 in Ahmedabad. The murder acquired controversial dimensions following allegations that it was a 'political murder'. Haren Pandya's father, Vithal Pandya sought re-investigation of the case but to no avail.
The CBI clubbed the Pandya case with the attempt on the life of a VHP leader Jagdish Tiwari on March 11, 2003 in Ahmedabad, terming both as part of the same conspiracy aimed at terrorizing the people and filed a single chargesheet. Though the accused were found not guilty of the charge of murder in the case of Pandya, it upheld the charges of conspiracy and attempt to murder in the case of Tiwari.
Meanwhile, the probe agency has decided to appeal in the Supreme Court against the high court decision, a CBI Official said in New Delhi.
"The CBI will be filing a special leave petition in the Haren Pandya murder case," said a CBI official.
The CBI which investigated the case had arrested 15 people out of 19 named as accused. A designated POTA court had convicted 12 people on June 25, 2007 with nine of them being given life terms.
The high court judgment noted that the charge for the offence punishable under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code is held to have not been proved beyond reasonable doubt and hence the sentences were set aside and the appeals partly allowed.