Gulshan Kumar Murder: HC Upholds Abdul Rauf Merchant's Conviction

The Court upheld Abdul Rauf's conviction and Ramesh Taurani's acquittal in the Gulshan Kumar murder case.

T-Series founder late Gulshan Kumar

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram)

The Bombay High Court on Thursday, 1 July, upheld the conviction of Abdul Rauf Merchant in the murder case of T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar, as well as the sentence of life term imprisonment awarded to Merchant in 2002.

The bench said, “Rauf Merchant’s conviction continues as he violated parole and continued with his criminal activities."

Abdul Rauf Merchant is believed to be an aide of gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

Meanwhile, even as the court dismissed the state government's appeal against the acquittal of Ramesh Taurani of Tips Industries, it partly allowed an appeal by the state against the acquittal of Abdul Rashid, Merchant's brother.

Abdul Rashid too is now sentenced to imprisonment for life.

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The Rauf brothers were found guilty of murder under IPC section 302, common intention (IPC section 34), conspiracy under IPC section 120 A, and under section 27 of the Arms Act.

The bench led by Justice Sadhana S Jadhav and Justice N R Borkar also added that Rauf needs to surrender before the Sessions Court of DN Nagar police; and also surrender his passport. If he doesn't surrender within a week, the Session's Court has been directed to issue a non-bailable warrant for his arrest.

Justice Sadhana Jadhav said that Abdul Rauf 'doesn’t deserve any leniency'.

"The appellant (Abdul Rauf) should not be entitled to remission, if any. He has criminal antecedents and continued in similar activities thereafter. In the interest of justice and society at large, appellant doesn't deserve any leniency."

Justice Sadhana Jadhav

Rauf was re-arrested in 2016 at the Indo-Bangladesh border after he violated his parole in April 2009, granted to him to visit his family in Mumbai.

GULSHAN KUMAR’S MURDER

Gulshan Kumar was shot outside a temple at Jeet Nagar in Juhu on 12 August in 1997.

The prosecution had thereby claimed that his rivals, including musician Nadeem Saifi, had paid money to gangster Abu Salem for his murder.

On 29 April, 2002, a sessions court, however, acquitted 18 of the 19 accused, and only convicted Rauf.

(With inputs from Live Law)