Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case: 92 witnesses turned hostile; Supreme Court to examine acquittal

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday expressed serious concern over 92 witnesses turning hostile in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case trial, terming it “wholesale witnesses hostile,” and agreed to examine a plea challenging the acquittal of 22 accused, including 21 police personnel.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing the petition filed by Nayabuddin Shaikh, brother of the late gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh.

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The plea challenged the Bombay High Court’s May 7 order that upheld a special CBI court’s December 2018 judgment acquitting all 22 accused in the 2005 alleged fake encounter case involving Sohrabuddin, his wife Kausar Bi and his aide Tulsiram Prajapati.

“It is a matter of concern if 92 witnesses turn hostile in a trial… wholesale witnesses hostile,” Justice Bagchi observed orally.

The bench emphasised that whether there was a fair and just trial for the persons put on trial would be a relevant consideration.

Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that his client had been pursuing the matter since 2010 and that the investigation was transferred at his behest.

He pointed to forensic evidence, bullet injuries and cartridges recovered in the case, and the fact that Kausar Bi’s body could not even be traced.

“Some of the witnesses may have turned hostile but they cannot hush up…,” Naidu argued.

The bench indicated it would examine selected witness statements relevant to the acquittal.

“We will examine the acquittal… We would like to see the statements of some of the witnesses on which Mr Naidu is relying upon… you give three or four statements you feel (the court should examine),” the court told the counsel.

Of the 22 accused acquitted, 21 were police officers from Gujarat and Rajasthan. The other accused was the owner of a farmhouse in Gujarat where, according to the prosecution, Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi were illegally detained.

As per the CBI’s case, Sohrabuddin, his wife and Prajapati were travelling by bus from Hyderabad to Sangli in Maharashtra when a police team allegedly took them into custody on the night of November 22-23, 2005. Sohrabuddin was killed on November 26, 2005, near Ahmedabad in an encounter involving Gujarat and Rajasthan police personnel. Kausar Bi was allegedly killed three days later. Prajapati, considered a key witness and lodged in Udaipur Central Jail, was killed in a police encounter near the Gujarat-Rajasthan border on December 27, 2006.

The bench sought a response on the plea from the accused and the CBI and will examine the relevant witness statements and the fairness of the trial.