The rift within the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the 2004 encounter of Ishrat Jahan has been exposed, with one of the members objecting to the demand to appoint amicus curie before Gujarat High Court.

SIT member Satish Verma, who yesterday filed an affidavit before the division bench of Justices Jayant Patel and Abhilasha Kumari, has also complained about the 'attitude' of the SIT chairman Karnal Singh.

The division bench was hearing the application filed by Singh seeking appointment of amicus curie for providing legal assistance to SIT, yesterday.

Verma has claimed in the affidavit that Chairman Singh approached the court in his "personal capacity" without taking Verma into confidence, and the application was moved without consensus within SIT.

Verma further states that appointment of a lawyer is the state government's responsibility and amicus curie is supposed to be neutral, who cannot advise SIT.

Looking at differences between SIT members, the court said that it will have to work out a functioning-model for SIT to ensure that "sanctity and spirit of its order is not paralysed due to difference of opinions amongst members".

The High Court directed Singh to remain present on January 28 along with other members of SIT, when next hearing will take place.

The court also asked whether there was any "group-ism" in the SIT, to which Verma submitted that there were differences, and Singh's attitude to the case was such that investigation would ultimately suffer.

The other SIT member, Mohan Jha, who was also present, informed the court that Singh had informally discussed the issue of getting legal assistance, during a meeting at a guest house in Mehsana.

Backing Singh, Jha said that such differences between members could hamper investigation.

The present three-member SIT was formed by the Gujarat High Court on September 24, 2010 to probe encounter of Mumbai-based Ishrat Jahan, Javed Ghulam Sheikh alias Pranesh Kumar Pillai, Amjad Ali alias Rajkumar Akbar Ali Rana and Jisan Johar Abdul Gani by the crime branch near Ahmedabad over six years ago.