Dinu Solanki, former MP from Gujarat and a key accused in RTI activist Amit Jethva’s murder, surrendered before a special CBI court on Monday, a week after the Supreme Court revoked his bail, PTI reported.
On October 30, the Supreme Court had cancelled the former MP’s bail till the eight key eye-witnesses in the case are examined. The court said that after the eye-witnesses are heard, Solanki will have to remain outside the state until other witnesses are re-examined.
Meanwhile, Jethva’s father Bhikhabhai moved a petition against Solanki and the CBI in the Supreme Court for contempt of court. Bhikhabhai alleged that CBI had not arrested Solanki even though he was supposed to surrender 48 hours after the Supreme Court’s order.
Jethva, a wildlife and RTI activist, was shot dead outside the Gujarat High Court in 2010 after he had filed a petition alleging illegal mining of limestone in the Gir forest. Although the Ahmedabad crime branch had given Solanki a clean chit, the CBI had arrested and named him in its chargesheet in 2013.
In June, the Gujarat High Court had ordered a retrial in the matter after Jethva’s father demanded a retrial and investigation. Solanki had moved the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order.
The High Court had set aside the trial in CBI court even before the verdict was announced. The High Court called the trial at the CBI court a “miscarriage of justice” as it was believed to have been manipulated by Solanki. The court stayed the trials after 105 out of 195 witnesses had turned hostile.
Solanki, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, was taken to Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad after he surrendered on Monday. He is likely to stay in jail till December, The Indian Express reported.
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