Washington, Sep 11 - Defending the central government's affidavit on Mumbai girl Ishrat Jahan and three others who were alleged victims of extrajudicial killing, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said such inputs are 'not evidence or conclusive proof' and 'are shared with states on a regular basis'.

'What is wrong with the affidavit? To the best of my knowledge the affidavit says that intelligence inputs were shared with the Gujarat government,' Chidambaram told reporters here Thursday after meeting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

He said the affidavit 'must be read in context'.

Chidambaram was replying to a question about the home ministry's viewpoint following a magisterial inquiry in Gujarat that said the four people killed were not terrorists, as claimed by the Gujarat police, and had been killed by police officials in cold blood in 2005.

'You cannot read into it what it does not say. I think it is self-evident that intelligence inputs are not evidence, much less conclusive proof. They are just inputs. They are shared with governments on a regular basis. That is not evidence or conclusive proof. It gives leads to investigations and further enquiry,' he stated.

Ishrat, a college student, and her friends Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Shaikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were shot dead by the Ahmedabad police's Crime Branch on the outskirts of the Gujarat city June 15, 2004.