SC agrees to examine plea against acquittal of 22 accused in Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case

SC agrees to examine plea against acquittal of 22 accused in Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case

New Delhi, The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea challenging the Bombay High Court's order acquitting 22 accused, including 21 police personnel, in the 2005 alleged fake encounter case involving gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati.

SC agrees to examine plea against acquittal of 22 accused in Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued notice on the plea filed by Nayabuddin Shaikh, brother of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, challenging the May 7 judgment of the Bombay High Court that upheld the acquittal of the accused.

The bench indicated it would examine selected witness statements relevant to the acquittal.

"We would like to see statements of some witnesses. We are not summoning the record. You give us whatever three-four statements you feel are vital. We will examine the acquittal," the CJI said.

Justice Bagchi observed that the fact that 92 prosecution witnesses had turned hostile was a matter requiring consideration, particularly in assessing whether the trial had been fair and just.

"Ninety-two witnesses turning hostile is a concern. Whether there was fair and just trial…that's to be considered," Justice Bagchi said.

The plea challenges the Bombay High Court's May 7 order dismissing appeals filed by Rubabuddin and Nayabuddin Shaikh against the December 2018 judgment of a special CBI court in Mumbai, which had acquitted all 22 accused.

Of the 22 accused acquitted in the case, 21 were police officers from Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The remaining accused was the owner of a farmhouse in Gujarat where, according to the prosecution case, Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi were illegally detained.

According to the prosecution case, Sohrabuddin, his wife and Prajapati were travelling by bus from Hyderabad to Sangli in Maharashtra when they were allegedly taken into custody by a police team on the night of November 22-23, 2005.

The couple and Prajapati were allegedly taken in separate vehicles.

According to the CBI, Sohrabuddin was killed on November 26, 2005, near Ahmedabad in an encounter involving Gujarat and Rajasthan police personnel. Kausar Bi was allegedly killed three days later.

Prajapati, who was lodged in Udaipur Central Jail and was considered a key witness to the alleged encounter, was killed in a police encounter near the Gujarat-Rajasthan border on December 27, 2006.

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