SC defers hearing of petitions against Modi to Wednesday

The Supreme Court has postponed the hearing of petitions against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modis inflammatory remarks on Sohrabuddin Sheikh Case to Wednwsday.

New Delhi, Dec. 10 : The Supreme Court has postponed the hearing of petitions against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's "inflammatory" remarks on Sohrabuddin Sheikh Case to Wednwsday.

A Bench headed by Supreme court Justice Tarun Chatterjee said, "It would be the first matter to be heard on Wednesday".

The petitions were filed by senior counsel Dushyant Dave on behalf of Rubbabuddin Sheikh, the brother of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and by Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for Javed Akhtar.

Both sought an inquiry into Modi's justification for the Noember 2005 fake encounter in which Sohrabuddin Sheikh was eliminated.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) has deferred its response to Modi is reply to a notice sent by it on December 6.

The notice said that the speech of Modi, reportedly justifying the encounter killing of Sohrabuddin, amounted to an open exhortation to violence and a misuse of religion for political ends.

In his response, Modi completely denied violating the Model Code of Conduct, saying that the notice issued by the EC was on the "basis of unverified and false media reports."

At an election rally in Jamnagar District on December 4, Modi admitted that Sohrabuddin's encounter did happen in Gujarat, saying the latter got what he deserved.

"Yes, Sohrabuddin's encounter happened in Gujarat, and if Sonia Gandhi wants, she can hang me for this," said Modi.

Sohrabuddin was reportedly gunned down on November 26, 2005 after being branded a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant by the state police, allegedly trying to hatch a conspiracy to kill Modi. The cops also allegedly killed Sohrabuddin's wife, Kausar Bi.

ANI