Further Investigation
The Gujarat State Government challenged the report of the metropolitan magistrate, saying that the policemen accused of fake encounter were not given an opportunity to present their side of the arguments. The case was thus taken to the Gujarat High Court. The Gujarat high court stated that Ishrat Jahan encounter case was of national importance, and ordered the police witnesses to be placed where they would not be working as subordinates to officials accused in the case.
In July 2010, some media outlets reported that the Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist David Headley involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks had named Ishrat as a member of Lashkar. However, in a letter to the Gujarat High Court, the NIA clarified that these media reports were false and David Headly did not speak about Ishrat Jahan.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Karnail Singh, was set up to probe the case further. The SIT sent four teams to Srinagar, Delhi, Lucknow and Nashik to probe Ishrat's alleged terrorist links. The team's forensic and ballistic experts, reconstructed the events of the encounter.
On 21 November 2011, the SIT told the Gujarat High Court that the Ishrat Jahan encounter was not genuine. After the SIT filed its report, the High Court ordered that a complaint under Indian Penal Code Section 302 (murder) has to be filed against those involved in the fake encounter, in which over 20 policemen, including senior IPS officers, were involved. As of November 2012, despite the High Court ruling calling it the fake encounter, the CBI hadn't made any arrests so far in the case.
Read more about this topic: Ishrat Jahan Encounter Case