States/ Gujarat/ Court Sentence
48 July 22, 2019USTICE must not only be done
but also seen to be done, or so
goes an old saying. In this case it
was finally seen to be done, nine
days short of a nine-year-long
epic battle. When the special CBI
court in Ahmedabad sentenced a former
BJP MP from Junagadh, Dinu Bogha
Solanki, and six others, including his
nephew and a police constable, life came
full circle for a grieving but determined
father who fought indomitable odds to
secure justice for the murder of his son,
RTI activist Amit Jethva. The father,
Bhikhubhai, said: “The conviction is a
victory for the judiciary and exemplary
proof that a judicial system exists which
is reassuring for commoners.” The ver-
dict is perhaps the first time in the his-
tory of Gujarat that a former MP has
been held guilty of murder. All seven
accused were sentenced to life imprison-
ment by special CBI judge KM Dave on
July 11.
Jethva, who had taken on powerful
people indulging in illegal mining in
and around the lion sanctuary of Sasan
Gir in Gujarat, was shot dead outside
the Gujarat High Court premises on
July 20, 2010. The killing came within a
fortnight of his filing an RTI on the
issue and was done at point-blank range
when Jethva had gone to see his lawyer.
What followed was a tortuous journey
for those demanding justice and a prime
example of how a skewered system
works in favour of the rich and power-
ful, part of the country’s administering
structure, while illegally milking it in
flagrant disregard of the law.
Jethva was targeted because he had,
through a series of RTI queries, exposed
illegal mining carried out by the thensitting BJP MP, Solanki, within the five-
km peri phery of the world’s only sanctu-
ary for Asiatic lions in Sasan Gir. Failing
to get a response from the BJP-ruled
state gov ernment, Jethva appealed to
the Guj arat High Court and, days later,
paid with his life. Solanki was then a
man whose writ ruled over the region
and with connections to the very top of
the state government. He flaunted his
opulent lifestyle and, according to one
story, even owned an air-conditioned
tractor. What is known is that using a
familiar combination of money and
muscle, he was seen as invincible. Proof
lay in the fact that despite the national
outcry over the murder, successive
police investigations gave a clean chit to
the MP. On July 24, 2010, investigations
were transferred from the Ahmedabad
police to the crime branch, but barely a
month later, the investigating officeralso cleared Solanki of any wrongdoing.
The matter was back before the High
Court which handed over the investiga-
tion to the CBI on Sep tem ber 25 even as
it rejected the state government’s plea
for a stay on the order. It had harsh
words to say: “So many people, whose
vested interests may have been affected
by his applications under the RTI Act,
could have a motive to contribute to his
killing. Therefore, a perfunctory investi-
gation on the basis of statements of the
accused persons themselves may not un -
earth the whole truth and meet the ends
of justice. It is imperative that proper
and comprehensive investigation is
undertaken by an agency which is not
under the control of the state govern-Tortuous Path to Justice
The sentencing of a former MP for murder by the CBI court in Ahmedabad reveals how the rich and
powerful can literally get away with murder unless the judicial system works as it should
By RK Misra in Ahmedabad
BROUGHT TO BOOK
Former BJP MP Dinu Bogha Solanki (centre)
was one of the prime accused in the caseJ
UNI