“Thus he denied existence of all other documents in the file except the final copy of the supplementary or further affidavit,” the inquiry panel observed. The second affidavit, claimed to have been drafted by Chidambaram, said there was no conclusive evidence to prove that Ishrat was a terrorist. The panel’s claim assumes significance as it was Pillai, few months ago, who alleged that Chidambaram as Home Minister “bypassed him” and had rewritten the affidavit. Subsequently, Chidambaram had said Pillai is equally responsible for the change in the affidavit. Pillai had claimed that as Home Minister, Chidambaram had recalled the file a month after the original affidavit, which described Ishrat and her slain aides as LeT operatives, was filed in the court.

Source: Indian Express June 27, 2016 16:41 UTC