Gulshan Kumar Murder Case, convict's sentence upheld

On Thursday, The Bombay High Court has upheld the conviction of Abdul Rauf Merchant in the murder case of Gulshan Kumar, founder of T-Series. Abdul Rauf, an aide of gangster Dawood Ibrahim, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2002 for Kumar’s murder in 1997.

Gulshan Kumar, the owner of T-Series, was shot dead while he was coming out of a temple in Mumbai on August 12, 1997. According to the prosecution, his industry rivals had paid money to Dubai-based gangster Abu Salem to kill him. The trial court, however, only convicted Rauf and acquitted others.

The bench observed, “It is a matter of record that the appellant Abdul Rauf had absconded soon after the incident, ie August 12, 1997, and could be arrested only in 2001. The appellant was enlarged on furlough in April 2009 and he had not surrendered within the stipulated time. He was arrested in November 2016. Hence, in the interest of justice and society at large, the appellant does not deserve any leniency. Hence, the appellant shall not be entitled to any remissions whatsoever.”

The bench went on to say, “We have no doubt whatsoever that the prosecution has proved that the appellant Abdul Rauf has caused the homicidal death of deceased Gulshan Kumar by firing.”

The bench noted that Kumar was shot at by the assailants allegedly hired by Nadeem Saifee (of Nadeem-Shravan music composer duo fame) and Salem.

Justice Jadhav, who authored the 69- page judgment for the bench, observed, “The assailants had no personal animosity or grudge against the deceased Gulshan Kumar. They had committed the ghastly act as they were hired by Nadeem Saifee and Abu Salem, who wanted to satisfy their personal vendetta against the deceased. Unwarranted acquittals would not only give a wrong signal to the society, but would pose a threat to law and order… In fact, eyewitnesses could not have faulted the identity of the persons who killed the deceased in broad daylight. It was indeed a cold-blooded murder.”