Ahmedabad, Apr 18 - A Gujarat High Court judge today recused himself form hearing the bail plea of suspended IPS officer Abhay Chudasama who is currently behind bars on the charge of being the key conspirator in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

When the matter came up for hearing before Justice M D Shah, he recused himself from the case, saying "not before me". He did not give any reason for it.

Now, the matter will be sent to the Chief Justice who will assign the case to another judge. Justice Shah was the second high court judge who excused himself from the hearing on Chudasama's bail application.

Justice Z K Saiyed too had recused himself from hearing the bail petition of the suspended officer in October last. After Justice Saiyed declined, the case was heard for some time by Justice K M Thaker. But after the change in roster, the bail matters were assigned to Justice Shah.

During the hearing, the investigating agency CBI opposed Chudasama's bail contending that if let out he could "intimidate" witnesses and tamper with evidence.

CBI had claimed that Chudasama played a key role in the conspiracy that led to fake encounter of Sohrabuddin and subsequent murder of his wife Kausar Bi. The central agency had alleged that Chudasama was involved in the extortion racket run by Sohrabuddin. PTI