From TV Screens to Prison Bars, the Suhaib Ilyasi Case Explained

Suhaib Ilyasi was acquitted of all charges by the Delhi HC on 5 Oct. Here’s all you need to know about the case.

Former host of one of India’s most popular crime shows - ‘India’s Most Wanted’, Suhaib Ilyasi, had been in 2017 charged with the murder of his wife, Anju – an incident which took place 18 years ago.

Although Ilyasi had been arrested in connection with the murder three months after Anju was found with multiple stab wounds in their East Delhi residence in January, 2000, he was only charged with her murder in 2017, in which the Delhi High Court had awarded him the life sentence.

However, on Friday, 5 October, the ex-anchor was acquitted by the Delhi High Court, citing lack of material evidence to support the charges of murder, as the basis for its verdict. The bench, comprising of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel, had allowed the appeal of Ilyasi, challenging his conviction and life imprisonment for killing his wife, Anju, 18 years ago.

Marking the chaos following Anju’s death, which witnessed a shift in Ilyasi’s reputation from being a successful TV anchor and family man, to an alleged killer and now free man, here’s a look back at the many twists and turns in the 17-year-old case.

Who is Suhaib Ilyasi?

Ilyasi, a media graduate from Delhi’s Jamia Milia University, rose to fame with the popular TV show, ‘India’s Most Wanted’, launched by Zee, in 1998. He was the anchor for the show through the years 1998 to 2000, a period when the show had gained immense popularity across the country.

However, following a discord with Zee, Ilyasi started a new show called ‘Fugitive Most Wanted’ on Doordarshan, that followed a similar pattern as ‘India’s Most Wanted’. Citing this, Zee got into a legal battle with Ilyasi.

By then, Ilyasi was married to Anju, whose suspicious death in January, 2000, ended his career as a TV anchor and producer.

Ilyasi had met Anju, his classmate at Jamia Millia Islamia, where both pursued Mass Communication, in 1989. Anju's father, K P Singh, was the then head of the metallurgy department.

Once they graduated, Ilyasi and Anju tied the knot in 1993 in London, under the Special Marriage Act. According to various reports, they had a nikah, following which, Anju took the name ‘Afsan’. After marriage, the duo continued to live in London until October, 1994.

How Did His Wife Die?

The relationship between Ilyasi and Anju reportedly began to sour after their return to India in 1994.

A detailed report by India Today, states that shortly upon their return, Anju packed her bags and left Ilyasi to return to London, where her brother, Prashant, was also based. According to what Prashant later told the magazine, she had even considered divorcing Ilyasi. However, he had talked her out of it and advised her to give the marriage another shot.

His advice, coupled with the fact that Ilyasi himself turned up in London in 1996, to try and reconcile with his wife, led her to agree to come back with him to India.

The following year, Anju gave birth to their daughter, who they named Aaliya. 

However, cracks began to appear in their relationship after this as well, and in 1998, Anju decided to leave him again and travelled to Canada, to stay with her sister, Rashmi Singh, India Today reported.

In October, 1998, Ilyasi followed her to Canada to ask her to come back again, which she did the following year in February. Upon their return, the couple bought a new apartment in Mayur Vihar, in east Delhi and spent 10 months redecorating it. They moved into the house in December, 1999.

A month later, on 10 January, 2000, just shy of a few days from turning 30, Anju was found dead in their apartment, with multiple stab wounds on her stomach. 

Upon her death, Ilyasi had initially told the police that she had stabbed herself after a heated argument between them, a fact that was corroborated with the first two forensic reports, that ruled that the wounds found on her body were “self-inflicted”, the report adds. This ruled out Ilyasi as a suspect.

However, things changed when Anju’s sister, Rashmi, returned to India, claiming that she had evidence to prove that Ilyasi was the one who had murdered her.

What is the Case Against Him?

On 15 February, Rashmi, the last person who Anju had reportedly spoken to before her death, had flown down to India. A month later, she filed a statement before the police, accusing Ilyasi of torturing Anju for dowry, claiming that it led him to kill her finally.

“I have enough evidence to prove that Ilyasi should be booked under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.”

Rashmi had told India Today

Following Rashmi’s accusations, her family and Anju’s, who until then had been backing their “beloved son-in-law”, turned against Ilyasi.

Finally in March, 2000, both Rashmi and his mother-in-law filed a case of “murder” against him. At that point, however, the police, acting on Rashmi’s statement, had arrested him on charges of “dowry murder, causing mental harassment, and destroying evidence”, but not for murder, the report adds.

Three years later, in March 2003, a trial court framed charges under Section 498A (subjecting wife to cruelty) and 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), against Ilyasi.

Addition of ‘Murder’ Charge Against Ilyasi

Here’s a chronology of the events that led to the “murder” charge being levelled against Ilyasi:

• Following the initial arrest, the prosecutor filed an application in trial court, requesting for the addition of a ‘murder charge’ against Ilyasi on 17 July 2003. However, this was later dismissed by the trial court in February 2004, PTI reports.
• Disappointed with the proceedings, Anju’s mother, on 12 July 2005, moved an application for a fresh investigation, which was denied by the court on 4 August 2005.
• After a long break of five years in the case, a plea to add murder charge was filed by the prosecution again, on 19 August 2010. This was rejected by the trial court on 19 February 2011.
• Refusing to give up, Ilyasi’s mother-in-law now moved the Delhi High Court, seeking the framing of the additional charge of murder against him, PTI reports.
• Following this, in May 2012, a new medical board was set up to look into injuries suffered by Ilyasi’s wife. This was highly resented by Ilyasi, who moved the high court in January, 2013, objecting to the constitution of a new medical board. However, the high court stayed the order for the formation of a new medical board.

The case finally made some headway in August, 2014, when the high court ruling on a petition filed by Ilyasi’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law, directed the lower court to charge him under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, PTI reports. 

How Was He Acquitted?

Following the high court order, Ilyasi moved the Supreme Court, challenging the same. The Supreme Court, on 21 August 2014, dismissed Ilyasi’s plea and asked him to face the murder charges for his wife’s arrest, PTI reports.

Two years after this, on 16 December 2017, the Delhi trial court found him guilty, accusing him of having stabbed his wife to death. On 20 December, Ilyasi was awarded a life imprisonment sentence, by the court. He was also ordered to pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh and another Rs 10 lakh as compensation to Anju's family.

Not giving in, Ilyasi moved the Supreme Court again, opposing the sentence. The Supreme Court advised him to approach the Delhi High Court.

After evaluating the trial court’s judgment and the evidence (or lack of) provided in the case, the Delhi High Court on Friday, 5 October, acquitted him of all charges. 

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel allowed the appeal of Ilyasi, accepting the arguments put forth by the advocates representing Ilyasi, Rajiv Mohan and Abhimanyu Kampani, which stated that the trial court had only reached the conclusion that Ilyasi was guilty of Anju’s murder based on “conjectures”

The bench’s verdict was based on the fact that there was no evidence against him and that even the prosecution had failed to establish the murder charges.

Expressing her relief at the judgment, Ilyasi and Anju’s daughter, Aaliya told PTI: “I am very, very happy. I am not able to express myself much right now. For all this while, we were silent about it because the judgment was yet to come. We have suffered a lot but I trust my father completely and I had always trusted him.”