Sohrabuddin Encounter Case: Supreme Court Agrees to Examine Acquittal of 22 Accused

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea challenging the Bombay High Court order that upheld the acquittal of 22 individuals, including 21 police officers, in the 2005 alleged fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi, and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, issued notice on a petition filed by Nayabuddin Shaikh, the brother of Sohrabuddin Shaikh. The petition challenges the Bombay High Court's May 7 judgment, which affirmed a December 2018 ruling by a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai exonerating all accused.

High Hostile Witness Count Raises Fair Trial Concerns

During the proceedings, the apex court flagged the sheer volume of witnesses who retracted their statements during the original trial. Justice Bagchi highlighted that 92 prosecution witnesses turned hostile throughout the legal process, noting that this phenomenon raises significant questions regarding whether the trial was conducted in a fair and just manner.

The bench decided against summoning the complete judicial records at this stage, instructing the petitioner’s counsel instead to select and present key witness depositions for direct evaluation.

"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," Chief Justice Surya Kant stated during the hearing.

Decades-Old Abduction and Encounter Murders

The legal challenge originates from events dating back to November 2005. According to prosecution findings submitted by the CBI, Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi, and associate Tulsiram Prajapati were travelling via bus from Hyderabad to Sangli in Maharashtra when a joint police team intercepted them on the night of November 22-23, 2005.

Investigators detailed that the trio were separated and moved in different vehicles. Sohrabuddin was subsequently killed on November 26, 2005, near Ahmedabad in a joint operation involving Gujarat and Rajasthan police personnel. Kausar Bi was allegedly killed three days later.

Prajapati, a primary witness to the abduction who was subsequently detained at Udaipur Central Jail, was killed in another police encounter near the Gujarat-Rajasthan border on December 27, 2006.

Trial History and High Court Ruling

The 22 acquitted individuals comprise 21 police personnel from Gujarat and Rajasthan police forces, alongside the owner of a Gujarat farmhouse where the prosecution alleged Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi were illegally detained prior to their deaths.

The petition before the Supreme Court contests the May 7 decision of the Bombay High Court, which dismissed joint appeals filed by Nayabuddin Shaikh and his brother Rubabuddin Shaikh. That judgment had upheld the trial court’s December 2018 verdict clearing all 22 defendants of murder, conspiracy, and destruction of evidence charges. The Supreme Court will now evaluate select witness testimony to determine whether the acquittals merit a comprehensive review.