With Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah being summoned by the CBI in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case, Congress on Thursday wondered whether the state deserved a minister who is "under investigation in a fake encounter".
"Does Gujarat deserve a Home Minister who is under investigation in a case of fake encounter which is really an acronym of cold-blooded murder. That is something on which BJP needed to do an introspection," said party spokesperson Manish Tewari.
He said that as far as legal dimension is concerned, it is a matter between the alleged accused and the court, "but so far as political dimension is concerned, law and order is a state subject and Home Minister of a state swears by the Indian Constitution to protect and uphold the rule of law."
Alleging that "a very evil kind of politics" is taking place in Gujarat, he said that justice should be done and rule of law must prevail. "The maxim that howsoever high you may be, the law is above all should hold true."
Asserting that in some sense, the case is a litmus test of Indian legal and constitutional system, he said BJP and the Chief Minister of Gujarat are not tired of repeating that they are on the same side of five crore Gujaratis.
Rejecting BJP's charge of a central hand in the matter, he said that this is a court-monitored investigation and CBI is reporting to the court and not the government as far as this matter is concerned.
Asked whether Congress was demanding resignation of the minister, he said, "We are not in politics on this...Our asking or not asking does not make any difference and you can shame only those people who have shame left in them." PTI
