Centre in damage-control mode

The Centre will challenge the Gujarat high court's order staying the magistrate's report which held that the encounter in which Ishrat Jahan and her associates were killed was fake. The report had also debunked the Gujarat Police’s claim that those killed in the encounter were terrorists.

The UPA government's decision to challenge the high court's decision is an attempt by the ruling combines, particularly the Congress, to limit the damage caused by the affidavit of the Union home ministry supporting the Gujarat Police’s contention that Ishrat Jahan and her associates were terrorists. The Congress has reportedly taken a dim view of the haste shown by the home ministry in rushing to the support of the Gujarat Police even though the Gujarat government had not done so.

Senior law ministry functionaries had told journalists on Wednesday that the law officer concerned in Ahmedabad was being fired for his failure to inform the ministry. However, law minister Veerappa Moily showed signs of backtracking on Thursday when he said the officer concerned was not being sacked.