Bombay HC upholds acquittal of all 22 accused in Sohrabuddin encounter case

The Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the 2018 special court verdict acquitting all 22 accused, including 21 police personnel from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, in the alleged fake encounter cases involving Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kauser Bi, and Tulsiram Prajapati.

A bench led by Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam A Ankhad dismissed appeals filed by Sohrabuddin’s brothers, Rubabuddin Shaikh and Nayabuddin Shaikh, against the trial court verdict that had remained pending for nearly seven years. The court passed a brief oral order rejecting the appeals and said a detailed judgment would follow.

The case stems from allegations that Sohrabuddin was killed in a staged encounter in Gujarat in November 2005. The prosecution had also alleged that Kauser Bi was killed the same month, while Prajapati, considered a key witness, was killed in December 2006.

The probe was initially handled by Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorism Squad and CID (Crime) before the Supreme Court transferred the investigation to the CBI and shifted the trial to a special court in Mumbai.

In December 2018, special CBI court judge S J Sharma acquitted all accused, ruling that the prosecution had failed to establish any criminal conspiracy. The court had also discharged several high-profile accused earlier, including then Gujarat home minister Amit Shah, senior IPS officers Dinesh M N, Rajkumar Pandiyan and D G Vanzara, along with former Rajasthan home minister Gulab Chand Kataria.

The special court had observed that the CBI pursued the case with a “premeditated theory and a script intended to somehow implicate political leaders”. It also noted that several witnesses who turned hostile had spoken the “truth” before the court and claimed their statements were wrongly recorded during the investigation.

The appeals against the acquittal were filed in April 2019. The high court began final hearings in December 2025 and reserved its verdict on January 16 after concluding arguments.

Representing Sohrabuddin’s brothers, advocate Gautam Tiwari argued that the trial court’s findings contradicted the evidence on record. The appellants contended that testimonies of Prajapati’s co-inmates, who allegedly said he feared for his life, were ignored during the trial.

The CBI, represented by Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, informed the high court that it had accepted the 2018 verdict and had chosen not to challenge the acquittal.

Senior advocate Amit Desai and other defense counsel appearing for the acquitted accused argued there was neither direct nor circumstantial evidence linking the accused to the alleged crimes, and maintained there was no possibility of overturning the acquittal.