RTI Activist Amit Jethva Murder Case- Gujarat High Court Suspends Sentence Of Life-Imprisonment Of Ex-MP Dinu Solanki

The Gujarat High Court today suspended the Life-imprisonment sentence of Ex-BJP MP Dinu Bogha Solanki who was convicted by a special CBI court in 2019 for killing RTI activist Amit Jethwa in 2010 after the activist had tried to expose illegal mining activities in the Gir forest region.Suspending his sentence and granting him conditional bail, the Bench of Justice Paresh Upadhyay and Justice AC Joshi observed that the CBI court's judgment was based on 'assumptions and presumptions' and that the verdict was 'prima facie erroneous'.His sentence has been suspended for the duration of the pendency of his appeal (file against CBI's Court conviction judgement) before the Gujarat High Court.The Court observed that the case was based on circumstantial evidence and referred to the case of Sharad Birdhi Chand Sarda vs State Of Maharashtra 1984 AIR 1622 and noted that the accused of an offence must be and not may be proved to be guilty.The Court also observed that initially the applicant was not named as an accused, either by the state police authorities or by the CID, however, when the matter was transferred to CBI in the year 2013, and the CBI found in its investigation that one person who was employed by the applicant said that he had heard applicant saying that something was needed to be done regarding the deceased.Therefore, in the year 2013, the CBI named him as the prime accused of hatching conspiracy to kill the deceased (RTI activist).In these circumstances, the Court found the decision of CBI as unsustainable while noting that there was a breach of principles laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Sharad Birdhi Chand Sarda and the Court didn't find any chain of evidence established against the applicant.The Court was of the view that even false implication of applicant can't be ruled out. Consequently, the Court granted him bail on a 1 lakh personal bond and one surety of equal amount with the further condition that he shall not leave the country without the permission of the Court.Background The court held Solanki, who was the Junagadh MP from 2009 to 2014, guilty of murder and conspiracy along with his cousin Shiva Solanki. The others accused convicted in the case were Shailesh Pandya, Bahadursinh Vadher, Panchan G Desai, Sanjay Chauhan, and Udaji Thakore.Jethwa, a lawyer, was shot dead for exposing illegal mining in and around the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary in which Solanki was involved through RTI applications. In 2010, Jethwa had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the illegal mining in and around the Gir sanctuary, the only abode of the Asiatic lion.Dinu Solanki and Shiva Solanki were made respondents to the PIL, with Jethwa producing several documents showing their involvement in the illegal mining. Even as the PIL was being heard, Jethwa was shot dead outside the Gujarat High Court here on July 20, 2010.Initially, the Ahmedabad police's crime branch probed the case and gave a clean chit to Dinu Solanki. Dissatisfied with the investigation, the high court handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2013.The CBI filed a charge sheet against Solanki and six others in November 2013. Charges of murder and criminal conspiracy were framed against them in May 2016. The court examined 196 witnesses during the first trial. As many as 105 of them turned hostile (did not support the CBI case) after being threatened by the accused.Jethwa's father Bhikhabhai Jethwa then moved the high court seeking a re-trial. The HC had ordered a fresh trial in 2017.

RTI Activist Amit Jethva Murder Case- Gujarat High Court Suspends Sentence Of Life-Imprisonment Of Ex-MP Dinu Solanki

Sparsh Upadhyay

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