MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday informed the Bombay High Court that it would not challenge the acquittal of all 22 accused in the alleged fake encounter case of gangster Sohrabuddin Shaikh in 2005.
A special CBI court had in December 2018 acquitted all the accused in the case, noting the prosecution had failed to establish a strong case to prove conspiracy to kill Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi, and aide Tulsiram Prajapati.
Shaikh’s brothers Rubabuddin and Nayabuddin Shaikh moved the Bombay High Court in 2019 against the acquittal, claiming the trial was flawed as the statements of witnesses were not accurately recorded.
On Wednesday, a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad heard the appeal filed by Shaikh’s brothers.
Representing CBI, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh told the bench that the agency would not be filing any appeal against the special court’s judgment. “We (CBI) have accepted the acquittal judgment,” Singh told the bench.
Sohrabuddin and his wife were killed in November 2005 in Ahmedabad in an alleged encounter. Prajapati, suspected to be a key witness, was also allegedly killed later.
The CBI charge sheet filed in 2010 had several high-profile names, including then Gujarat home minister Amit Shah.