[Gulshan Kumar murder case] Bombay High Court upholds conviction of Abdul Rauf for murder, acquittal of Ramesh Taurani

The Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the sessions court verdict convicting Abdul Rauf alias Dawood Merchant for the offence of murder of T-series founder, Gulshan Kumar..The verdict came in an appeal filed by Abdul Rauf challenging an order passed by the Additional Sessions Judge ML Tahilyani convicting Rauf under offences punishable under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 392 (robbery) and 397 (robbery with grievous hurt).A Bench of Justices SS Jadhav and NR Borkar, however, reversed Rauf's conviction for the offences under 392 and 397 of IPC.The sentence of life imprisonment imposed by the sessions judge on Rauf, was upheld by the Court clarifying that Rauf won't be entitled to remission.."It is a matter of record that the appellant had absconded soon after the incident in Auguat, 1997 and could be arrested only in 2001. The appellant was enlarged on furlough in 2009 and he had not surrendered within the stipulated time. He was arrested in November 2016. The appellant has criminal antecedents, and he continued in the similar criminal activities thereafter also. Hence, in the interest of justice and society at large the appellant does not deserve any leniency." The Court observed. .The Court observed that Abdul Rauf had no personal animosity or grudge against the deceased. He had been hired by Nadeem Saifee and Abu Salem, two aides of the Indian gangster Dawood Ibrahim, who wanted to satisfy their personal vendetta against Kumar.For this reason, Abdul Rauf was convicted under Section 120B for criminal conspiracy..Kumar, former Managing Director of Super Cassette Industries, was shot dead in broad daylight on August 12, 1997 outside a temple in Mumbai. The Sessions Court pronounced the verdict on April 29, 2002..After perusing the testimonies of the eye-witnesses and the corroborative evidences placed forth by the prosecution, the High Court was convinced that the act was indeed a cold blooded murder committed in broad daylight. .The Court appreciated the conduct of the eyewitnesses who they observed had not just claimed that they are witnesses but without showing any apathy, had promptly helped the deceased and the driver by taking them to the hospital. They had also evidently reported the matter to the police and did not hesitate to stand true to the test of scrutiny..The Court was also hearing an appeal filed by the Maharashtra government aggrieved by the acquittal of two other accused - Bollywood producer Ramesh Taurani and Abdul Rashid which was also partly allowed..The Court upheld the acquittal of Taurani for the reasons that it found serious lapses in the investigation and no cogent and convincing evidence to hold that Taurani had spoken to Abu Salem, an aide of gangster Dawood Ibrahim.The allegation against Taurani was that he had hatched the conspiracy with Nadeem Saifee and Salem..However, the acquittal order against Rashid was reversed to conviction adding conviction under Section 120B of IPC and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Court observed that the role of Rashid could not segregated from the role of Rauf since both had evidently shot the deceased. It observed,"To dissociate the role of Rashid would be unjustified in view of the testimony of the eyewitnesses and the cogent and convincing evidence adduced by prosecution" .[Read judgment]