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The younger brother of the deceased Sohrabuddin Shaikh, Nayabuddin Shaikh, has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court judgment that upheld the acquittal of all 22 accused.
Among the acquitted were 21 police personnel, who are accused in the alleged fake encounter killings of Sohrabuddin, his wife Kauser Bi and associate Tulsiram Prajapati.
According to the Supreme Court’s official website, the petition was filed on August 13 and registered as Diary No 49466/2026.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been made a respondent.
The matter is currently listed under the defect category for 90 days.
The plea challenges the May 7 judgment of a Bombay High Court Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad.
The bench had, however, dismissed appeals filed by Sohrabuddin’s brothers against the special CBI court’s December 2018 acquittal.
The High Court held that the prosecution had failed to establish the alleged conspiracy and killings through reliable evidence.
The appellants had sought reversal of the acquittal or a retrial under Section 386(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, citing flaws in the trial and the handling of witnesses.
The CBI had informed the High Court that it accepted the 2018 acquittal and had not decided to challenge it.
The case, however, concerns the alleged abduction of Sohrabuddin, Kauser Bi and Prajapati from a bus travelling from Hyderabad to Sangli in November 2005.
The prosecution alleged that Sohrabuddin was killed in a staged encounter near Ahmedabad. Subsequently, Kauser Bi was killed. Later, Prajapati was killed in another alleged fake encounter in December 2006.
Investigation and Trial
The investigation was transferred from Gujarat Police to the CBI. The Supreme Court, however, shifted the trial from Gujarat to Mumbai in 2012.
In December 2018, the special CBI court acquitted all 22 accused, citing insufficient evidence. Of 210 witnesses examined, 92 had turned hostile.
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