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The Bombay High Court, which connected Thursday (May 7, 2026) upheld the acquittal of 22 accused persons successful the 2005 lawsuit of alleged fake brushwood of Gujarat gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh, has stated that the prosecution had failed to found a case. A transcript of the tribunal bid was made nationalist connected Friday (May 8).
A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court, comprising Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad, dismissed appeals filed by Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s brothers, Rubabuddin Sheikh and Nayamuddin Sheikh. The appeals challenged a December 21, 2018 proceedings tribunal bid that acquitted 22 constabulary unit from Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The lawsuit pertains to the alleged extrajudicial sidesplitting of Sohrabuddin Sheikh successful November 2005, the disappearance of his wife Kausar Bi, and the consequent decease of Tulsiram Prajapati in December 2006. According to the prosecution, the 3 were abducted from a luxury autobus near Zahirabad and aboriginal killed successful staged encounters arsenic portion of a transgression conspiracy allegedly involving constabulary officers and politicians.
The Bench noted that the prosecution examined 210 witnesses, of whom 92 turned hostile. “There is nary crushed to gully an inference that the proceedings was not conducted decently due to the fact that 92 prosecution witnesses turned hostile,” the tribunal said. It added that these witnesses, erstwhile cross-examined by the prosecution, denied having made immoderate connection to the constabulary successful enactment of the prosecution case.
The tribunal said that not a azygous witnesser identified the accused successful the dock arsenic the persons who had abducted Sohrabuddin Sheikh, Kausar Bi and Tulsiram Prajapati.
The Bench held that the prosecution failed to found the offence of transgression conspiracy. “The essence of the offence of conspiracy is the information of operation by agreement. There indispensable beryllium immoderate grounds regarding carnal manifestation of the agreement. Mere transmission of thought oregon sharing of a tendency to perpetrate an unlawful enactment is not sufficient,” the tribunal said.
Referring to the discharge of 16 accused persons by the proceedings tribunal connected the aforesaid acceptable of evidence, the Bench said that the determination had go final. “The precise instauration of the prosecution lawsuit is demolished and the conspiracy mentation indispensable beryllium held not proved,” it observed.
Postmortem report
The tribunal recorded the grounds of Dharmesh Somabhai Patel, the doc who conducted the postmortem on Sohrabuddin Sheikh. The doc stated that nary pain marks oregon fume deposits were recovered connected the body, which would ordinarily beryllium contiguous if a idiosyncratic was fired astatine adjacent range. The postmortem study besides noted that nary cadaveric spasm was observed, which mostly occurs erstwhile decease is associated with utmost carnal oregon affectional stress. “These findings intelligibly regularisation retired immoderate anticipation of fake brushwood of Sohrabuddin Sheikh,” the Bench said.
On the decease of Tulsiram Prajapati, the tribunal noted that the prosecution did not nutrient immoderate witnesser who saw the murder.
Regarding Kausar Bi, the prosecution had claimed that she was burnt to decease and her remains disposed successful the Narmada river. The tribunal observed that astir witnesses produced to found this did not enactment the prosecution case.
The investigating serviceman had stated earlier the proceedings tribunal that determination was nary worldly to amusement that immoderate of the accused received governmental oregon monetary benefit. The serviceman said that the constabulary officers facing proceedings were acting nether the instructions of their superiors, the Bench noted.
The tribunal besides referred to the grounds of the appellants, Rubabuddin and Nayamuddin Sheikh. Mr. Rubabuddin admitted successful cross-examination that helium had told an enquiry committee that a idiosyncratic named Kalimuddin, not Tulsiram Prajapati, was travelling with Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi. Mr. Nayamuddin stated that his grounds was based connected accusation fixed by Kalimuddin, who was not examined during the trial.
The Bench besides acceptable aside an interim exertion filed by Maniar Kalpesh Kumar seeking to situation the discharge of Amit Anilchandra Shah, who was accused No. 16 successful the lawsuit and had been discharged by the proceedings tribunal connected December 30, 2014.
The tribunal noted that the applicant had suppressed the information that the discharge bid had been challenged earlier earlier the High Court and the Supreme Court, and that the Special Leave Petition was dismissed connected August 1, 2016. The applicant did not authorities however helium was connected to the lawsuit oregon wherefore helium had surfaced astir 2 decades aft the transgression was registered. The tribunal said the exertion appeared to person been filed with an oblique motive astatine the lawsuit of a governmental adversary of the accused.
The Bench reiterated that a judgement of acquittal cannot beryllium interfered with successful a casual manner. “The High Court indispensable instrumentality a holistic presumption and render its judgement keeping successful caput the cardinal rule of transgression jurisprudence that determination is presumption of innocence successful favour of the accused. Such presumption continues astatine each stages of the proceedings and gets concretised when the proceedings ends successful acquittal,” the tribunal said.
It added that the powerfulness to reverse an acquittal should beryllium exercised lone successful exceptional cases wherever the proceedings court’s presumption is perverse oregon based connected an erroneous appreciation of evidence. Since the proceedings tribunal had applied close ineligible principles and its conclusions were not contrary to the evidence, the Bench recovered nary crushed to interfere.
