An Ahmedabad court has discharged former Director General of Police (Gujarat) PP Pandey from the Ishrat Jahan encounter case in which he was one of the accused.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had charged Pandey with charges of conspiracy, illegal confinement and murder in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case. The court discharged Pandey during a hearing on Wednesday.

Ishrat Jahan encounter case pertains to the killing of four persons by officers of the Gujarat Police claiming that they were Lashkar terrorists and were in Ahmedabad to assassinate the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Ishrat Jahan was one of the four and the only woman among the four. The case caused an uproar and was finally given in the hands of CBI for further investigation.

Mr. Pandey had petitioned for his discharge from the case citing the contradictory statements of the witnesses against him as the reason. He claimed his non-involvement in the case and that none of the 105 witnesses had said about his (Pandey) involvement in the case.

“The court has accepted my petition for discharge. This is a big relief for me. Justice may be delayed in the country but truth essentially comes out,” said PP Pandey post his discharge.