HC suspends Chota Rajan’s conviction in 2001 murder case, grants him bail

A bench presided over by justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan pronounced the order while hearing Rajan’s appeal against the trial court ruling

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday suspended the conviction of underworld don Chhota Rajan, officially known as Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje, in the 2001 murder of hotelier Jaya Shetty. The court suspended the life imprisonment sentence awarded to him and granted him bail, but he will continue to remain in jail as he has been convicted in other criminal cases, including for the murder of journalist Jyotirmoy Dey, wherein he is serving a life term.

HC suspends Chota Rajan’s conviction in 2001 murder case, grants him bail

A bench presided over by justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan pronounced the order while hearing Rajan’s appeal against the trial court ruling.

He was arrested in Bali on November 6, 2015. At the time, he was wanted on multiple counts of murder, extortion and other serious charges. Jaya Shetty murder case was one of those cases and he was formally arrested in the murder case on June 28, 2016.

Jaya Shetty was murdered outside his hotel, the Golden Crown, in May 2001 by Ajay Mohite and Kundansingh Rawat after he failed to meet extortion demands from Rajan’s aide Hemant Pujari. Ajay was caught red-handed with two firearms while fleeing the crime scene, while Rawat and two more accused, Pramod Dhonde and Rahul Panasre, were arrested on charges of conspiring for the murder of Shetty at Pujari’s behest. Rajan was formally arrested in the murder case on June 28, 2016.

The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court which heard the Jaya Shetty murder case found that Rajan had entered into a criminal conspiracy to extort money from the deceased hotelier and then commit his murder. The prosecution was also able to prove that Rajan as gang leader conspired and committed murder of Shetty and that he was the head of an organised crime syndicate. On May 30, 2023, the special court convicted Rajan and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He is currently incarcerated in Tihar jail in Delhi.

The special MCOCA court had convicted Ajay Mohite, Pramod Dhonde and Rahul Pansare for murdering Shetty in 2004, while Kundansingh Rawat and Ajay Mohite died in extra-judicial killings in 2003 and 2007, respectively.

The high court while granting Rajan bail observed that the special court had committed a gross illegality in relying on a previous MCOCA case against other accused persons and a confessional statement of Pramod Dhonde which was not admissible evidence.

The court found that the alleged extortion calls by Rajan’s aides were received by Jaya Shetty’s manager Bala Shetty, whom the prosecution never examined. Another crucial witness’ evidence regarding Hemant Pujari’s affiliation with Chota Rajan was based on hearsay, the court further observed.

“As such, there is no evidence at all, even remotely, to indicate that the threats alleged to have been received from one Hemant Pujari were on behalf of the applicant (Chota Rajan). Mere allegations that Hemant Pujari was affiliated to the gang of the applicant would not itself be sufficient to hold the applicant responsible for causing death of the deceased (Jaya Shetty),” the court said while suspending the sentence.

The high court also flagged the police’s error in seeking to prosecute Rajan on a vague prior approval, which did not specifically seek to prosecute him.