After 6 yrs, HC to start final hearing against acquittal of 22 accused in Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter
The criminal appeal has been pending since 2019 and only four hearings have taken place in the past three years, the division bench of chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar and justice Gautam Ankhad said on Wednesday
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court will start the final hearing in the plea challenging the acquittal of all 22 accused in the alleged fake encounter of gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh in 2005 will commence on December 5.
The criminal appeal has been pending since 2019 and only four hearings have taken place in the past three years, the division bench of chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar and justice Gautam Ankhad said on Wednesday, while posting the matter under “final hearing” on December 5.
The bench also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to serve notices to the respondents, asking them to be present during subsequent proceedings.
Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and aide Tulsiram Prajapati were killed in an encounter on November 25, 2005 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on the road between Narol Circle and Vishala Circle. A special court in December 2018 acquitted all the 22 accused in the case, including 21 junior police officers from Gujarat and Rajasthan, saying the prosecution had failed to establish a case against them and prove any conspiracy to kill Shaikh.
According to the CBI, the 21 accused junior police officers were part of teams that abducted Shaikh, his wife and his aide and later killed them in staged encounters. Before they were killed, the trio were illegally detained in a farm house in Gujarat, whose owner was also among the accused acquitted by the special court.
In 2019, Shaikh’s brothers, Rubabuddin and Nayabuddin Shaikh, moved the Bombay High Court, challenging the acquittals and seeking quashing of the trial court’s verdict.
In October this year, the CBI told the high court that it would not appeal against the 2018 verdict.
The Bombay High Court will begin final hearings on December 5 regarding the acquittal of 22 accused in the 2005 fake encounter of gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh. The appeal, pending since 2019, follows a special court's 2018 ruling that found insufficient evidence against the accused, including 21 junior police officers. Shaikh and his associates were allegedly abducted and killed.