Rubabuddin charges Narendra Modi with contempt of apex court

Rubabuddin Sheikh, the brother of staged-shootout victim Sohrabuddin Sheikh, Wednesday served a legal notice on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi charging him with contempt of the Supreme Court with his derogatory remarks against the CBI that is probing the case.

The notice dated Aug 28 sought a response within a week whereafter he would take “appropriate action” in the matter.

The notice also asks the chief minister to refrain from making any such derogatory statements that could interfere with the Central Bureau of Investigation’s probe into the Sohrabuddin-Kausarbi murder case being conducted under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court.

The notice comes after Modi’s public speech in Ahmedabad Aug 25 in which he said the CBI had taken a supari (contract) from the Congress party to finish him politically.

He also alleged at the meet that the “friends of the Congress may be jumping around because of their trust in the CBI but the people of Gujarat will decide finally.”

The notice said Modi made the allegations against the CBI even though he was fully aware that the central agency was directed by the Supreme Court to conduct the investigation into the Sohrabuddin-Kausarbi murder case and was submitting its report to the apex court.

It said the statements amounted to a grave insult to the Supreme Court and were a “deliberate and a calculated” attempt by the chief minister to “undermine the majesty” of the apex court and make people “loose faith and belief in the wisdom of the apex court in entrusting the investigation to the CBI.”

It said the chief minister deliberately used the word “supari” implying that the CBI had initiated the investigation on some “monetary considerations” from the Congress party and was investigating into the case with “malafide intentions” to harm him politically. It said since the apex court had directed the CBI to conduct the inquiry, the allegation by Modi “amounted to direct allegation against the impartiality of the Supreme Court”.

Pointing out that earlier also several state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders had made “extremely derogatory remarks” against the CBI and had called it the “Congress Bureau of Investigation,” it said it was clear that “deliberate and conscious efforts” were being made by the ruling party leadership “to create doubts and disbelief” in the minds of the people about the CBI investigation into the case.