In a major relief to BJP President Amit Shah, a special CBI court in Mumbai today discharged him in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

In a brief order pronounced in the court, Special CBI Judge M B Gosavi said he is of the opinion that the inference drawn by CBI is not accepted in totality and Mr Shah cannot be charged as an accused. Details of the judgement will be available later.

The CBI had charged Mr Shah, the then Minister of State for Home in Gujarat, as an accused in the killing of gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati. The CBI had cited some telephone calls between Mr Shah and two other accused in its case against Mr Shah.

Reacting on the verdict, BJP today said that CBI Court's decision to discharge party chief Amit Shah in Sohrabuddin Sheikh's fake encounter case, has vindicated party's stand that charges against Mr. Shah are fabricated and politically motivated. Talking to reporters, party secretary Shrikant Sharma said, Congress President Sonia Gandhi should apologise to the people as previous UPA government had made false allegations against Mr Shah. He said the Court has rejected the arguments of CBI counsel and Sohrabuddin's brother in the case against Mr Shah.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in a tweet that it is a matter of happiness for the BJP that Mr Shah has been given a clean chit by the special CBI court, vindicating the party's stand.

Meanwhile, Aam Admi Party today criticized CBI for diluting the case of BJP President Amit Shah, leading to his discharge in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case by a special CBI court in Mumbai. Talking to reporters, senior party leader Yogendra Yadav alleged that the CBI was being misused and manipulated to erase the case on Amit.