The Bombay High Court has  rejected the appeals challenging the acquittal of all 22 accused, including 21 police officials, in the alleged fake encounter killings of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kauser Bi, and associate Tulsiram Prajapati.

A division bench of  Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad upheld  the acquittal and dismissed the appeals filed by Shaikh’s brothers, Rubabuddin and Nayabuddin.

Appeals Filed:

The appeals filed  by Shaikh’s brothers sought the setting aside of the trial court’s judgment or, alternatively, order a re-trial under Section 386(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

The appeals had been  pending before the High Court since 2019 and were reserved for orders in 2025.

The brothers approached the Court as “victims who suffered the loss of family members.”

They argued  that the trial was  seriously flawed and was conducted in a way that defeated the ends of justice.

According to them,  the special judge relied on unwarranted assumptions and  made a manifestly incorrect appreciation of  the evidence while delivering  the verdict.

One of the main objections raised in the appeals was that the prosecution failed to summon the magistrates before whom several important hostile witnesses had earlier recorded their statements.

Before approaching the High Court, Rubabuddin Shaikh had also written to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the CBI Director, and the Cabinet Secretary, asking the government to officially challenge the judgment.

However, during the hearings, the CBI told the High Court that it had accepted the trial court’s verdict and had decided not to file an appeal against it.

Encounter Case:

The case relates to an incident that took place on November 23, 2005. According to the prosecution, alleged criminal Sohrabuddin Shaikh was abducted along with Kauser Bi and Tulsiram Prajapati from a luxury bus travelling from Hyderabad to Sangli.

The CBI alleged that Shaikh and Prajapati were later killed in staged police encounters, while Kauser Bi was murdered and her body was secretly disposed of.

Current Union Minister Amit Shah was also named as an accused in the case.

The case was first registered in Gujarat. In 2012, the Supreme Court transferred the trial to Mumbai on the request of the CBI.

Judges in Trial:

The trial was heard by multiple judges over the years. One of them, Judge BH Loya, died in 2014 while the trial was still pending. Later, Judge MB Gosavi discharged Amit Shah from the case in December 2014.

After that, the trial continued against the remaining accused persons.

On December 21, 2018, Special CBI Judge SJ Sharma acquitted all 22 accused persons, including serving and retired police officers from Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh.

The trial court held that the prosecution had failed to conclusively prove the allegations of conspiracy and murder.

During the trial, 210 witnesses were examined. However, the prosecution’s case weakened considerably after 92 witnesses turned hostile.

Trial Court Findings:

In his 358-page judgment, the trial judge expressed sympathy for the family members of the deceased but said there was a serious lack of conclusive evidence.

The judge also observed that the accused persons could not be convicted only on the basis of moral considerations or suspicion.

Case Details: Rubabuddin Shaikh vs Central Bureau of Investigation (Criminal Appeal 641 of 2019)